The National Forage Testing Association (NFTA) was founded in 1984 as a joint effort of the American Forage and Grassland Council, the National Hay Association and forage testing laboratories in a concentrated effort to improve the accuracy of forage testing and build grower confidence in testing animal feeds. NFTA is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors. Six directors represent laboratories, three represent the National Hay Association, and three represent the American Forage and Grassland Council. Each year the NFTA Board updates the certification program. New methods of grading laboratory performance have been introduced since NFTA was formed. Today, laboratories are evaluated six times a year. Performance grades are provided to laboratories to allow them to better evaluate their testing procedures and methods. The NFTA also uses committees and task forces to accomplish its objects. Recently, NFTA has held annual workshops in conjunction with the annual AOAC International Midwest Meetings. These workshops offer participants an excellent chance to hear the latest research and developments in forage testing methods. For more information, application forms, etc. Click here for contact information. Hay Quality Designations Supreme: Very early maturity, pre-bloom, soft fine stemmed, extra leafy. Factors are indicative of very-high nutritive content. Hay is excellent color and free of damage. Premium: Early maturity, i.e. pre-bloom in legumes and pre-head in grass hays, extra leafy, and fine stemmed – factors indicative of a high nutritive content. Hay is green and free of damage. Good: Early to average maturity, i.e. early to mid-bloom in legumes and early head in grass hays, leafy, fine to medium stemmed, free of damage other than slight discolorization. Fair: Late maturity, i.e. mid to late bloom in legumes, head-in grass hays, moderate or below leaf content, and generally coarse stemmed. Hay may show light damage. Low: Hay is very late maturity, such as mature seed-pods in legumes or mature head in grass hays, coarse stemmed. This category could include hay discounted due to excessive damage and heavy weed content or mold. Defects will be identified in market reports when using this category. Hay quality Designations for Nationwide Marketing News Reporting USDA Agricultural marketing Service has adopted hay quality designations for use in the nationwide Market News Reporting Program. These revised guidelines established specific objective measurements of value attributed for each quality category of alfalfa and grass hay. Nationwide uniformity of price information is the goal of establishing these new quality designations. It is important for hay buyers in California reading Market News price reports about alfalfa in Kansas to know what the quality is of the hay described in that report issued half a continent away. Market news reporters from five states formed the task force that collected information and input from hay and forage industry representatives that went into the revised quality designation descriptions. USDA and State Department of Agriculture market news reporters are now using the revised guidelines in market reporting across the country. Following are the revised national hay test guidelines on Alfalfa, Alfalfa/Mix Hay, and Grass Hay. Reporters use the test measurement most prominent in their trade area, along with vital characteristic to determine hay quality. |
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