The 2015 contest is presented by Massey Ferguson. As a result of the company’s sponsorship and major support from sponsors for each of the seven categories in the hay contest, category winners can win cash and, in some cases, free use of Massey Ferguson hay equipment.
Dr. Dennis Hancock, extension forage specialist from the University of Georgia, is this year’s director of the Southeastern Hay Contest.
“We hope every high quality hay producer from Texas to Virginia will enter for a chance to win,” Hancock says. “Our goal is to demonstrate the potential to produce high quality hay and baleage in the Southeast. Just as important, we want to highlight the technology that makes it all possible.”
Forage growers in the Southeast have increased the quality of their forage because of unprecedented prices in most livestock sectors, great demand for their products and a need for efficiency due to high input costs.
“The key to success has always been timely management,” Hancock says.
Hancock also points out that good management has been made more efficient with the use of improved forage varieties, advanced harvest equipment and other technologies that have come to the market during the last decade.
“It is hard to recall a more exciting time in the hay and forage industry,” he says.
Massey Ferguson has joined the effort by being the title sponsor for the Southeastern Hay Contest. They will be providing the grand prize of a new Massey Ferguson RK Series rotary rake for the 2016 hay production season and a $1,000 cash prize. Additionally, the company will be providing the first prize winner in the warm-season perennial grass category with the use of a new DM series professional disc mower for the 2016 hay production season.
Each of the seven categories has been sponsored by additional industry partners. These sponsorships will provide cash awards to the top three places in each category, including $125 for first prize, $75 for second prize and $50 for third prize.
The deadline for entry into the contest is 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 28. More information about the contest, including the rules and entry forms, is available at the contest’s website. FG
—From Southeastern Hay Contest news release
