Understanding a Hay Analysis

The importance of testing your hay
Horses are naturally meant to consume a diet based on forages. Pasture and hay should usually make up the majority of the average horses diet. When it comes to selecting hay many people know that goodquality hay smells good is soft and has more leaves than stems. But how does this visual inspection match up with the actual amount of nutrients in the hay? How much crude protein or starch is in that bale of hay? To find out you need to take a sample of hay and do a hay analysis.

A hay analysis will reveal the specific amount of various nutrients that are found in the hay. These days it is relatively simple to obtain a hay analysis. Using a hay corer collect samples from 1020 percent of the bales in a single load Figure 2. Do not combine loads of hay even if they are different cuttings from the same field or the same cutting from different years. Once a sample is collected and placed in a labeled bag the sample is shipped off to a laboratory for analysis. The results are then sent back in a 12page document.
Understanding the hay analysis can be tricky. The results are full of abbreviations and numbers and percents and it can leave a person unsure what good and bad numbers are. Solets go through what these abbreviations mean and what typical values we find for these nutrients.
One important note before we begin There are usually two different columns in a hay analysis that list values for the nutrients. One will be titled as is or as fed while the other will be titled DM. The column titled as is means the values listed are for the hay without any alterations basically the hay as you would

feed it to a horse. The column titled DM which stands for Dry Matter means the values listed are for the hay without water. In other words the sample has been dried completely and there is no water in the sample. The DM column allows for easy comparison between different feedstuffs for example pasture and hay. It is far more accurate to compare the nutrients of pasture and hay once the water is removed. In the values listed for the nutrients below with the exception of the moisture the values are for DM.
Key nutrients and information listed on a hay analysis
Moisture and Protein
MoistureThe ideal moisture for hay is around 15 percent. If the moisture is less than 10 percent the hay will be very dry and lose a lot of nutritious leaves to shattering. The hay will also not be palatable if it is very dry. If the moisture is greater than 18 percent there is a risk for mold forming in the hay and if the moisture is greater than 20 percent there is a risk for spontaneous combustion.
Crude Protein CP For adult horses adequate protein should be provided by the hay if the CP value on the analysis is about 1012 percent. If you have young horses horses in highintensity exercise or broodmares that are lactating you will want a higher CP percent in your forage. Also note that the type of hay grass versus legume can impact the amount of CP typically legumes such as alfalfa will have higher CP as compared to grass hays. But maturity of the plant when the hay was harvested will impact the CP. This is why you are testing your hayto know the true amount of nutrients in your hay!
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates fall into two categories structural carbohydrates fibers and nonstructural carbohydrates sugars