Understanding a Hay Analysis

starch fructans etc.. Both ADF and NDF give us an idea of the amount of fiber in the hay. Fiber is composed of structural carbohydrates found in plants such as cellulose and hemicellulose. The more mature the plant the higher amount of fiber it will contain. For horses that need to lose weight or are considered easy keepers you may want ADF and NDF values to be on the higher end of the ideal ranges presented below. For horses that require more calories like young growing horses or horses that are working hard you may want lower ADF and NDF values.
Acid detergent fiber ADF This refers to cellulose and lignin. The ideal ADF for horses ranges from 3045 percent. If you have values greater than 45 percent your horse probably will not like it. ADF is negatively correlated with digestibility so the higher the number the less the hay will be broken down inside your horses gastrointestinal tract.
Neutral detergent fiber NDFThis refers to cellulose hemicellulose and lignin. The ideal NDF ranges from 4065 percent. If you have values greater than 65 percent your horse probably will not eat it. NDF is negatively correlated with forage intake so the higher the number the less hay your horse will eat.
The hay analysis will have measures of different types of nonstructural carbohydrates NSC. This will include any of the following starch water soluble carbohydrates WSC and ethanol soluble carbohydrates ESC. Each of these will measure slightly different combinations of carbohydrates for example ESC measures simple sugars mainly monosaccharides and disaccharides like glucose and sucrose while WSC measures simple sugars and fructans. As the name suggests WSC dissolve in water so a portion of it can be leached out of hay by soaking it to reduce overall NSC.
There is not an ideal NSC number

for all horses but for horses who suffer from chronic laminitis or other metabolic disorders it is recommended to keep NSC below 1012 percent on a DM basis. For horses that need to lose weight you may also want to have lower NSC numbers. The hay analysis may not include NSC but you can estimate it by adding together WSC starch.
Energy
Digestible Energy DE This is the amount of energy that is digested and used by the horse. You can think of this as being similar to a calorie count of the feed. Depending on the energy needs of your horse an ideal number will vary. The DE for most hay ranges from 0 751 0 Mcallb.
What else might be listed on a hay analysis?
The list above is not everything that you might find on a hay analysis. You can find out the amounts of many vitamins and minerals in your forage which would be useful if you are balancing your horses diet or if your horse is ill and you are trying to find out what the problem is. The analysis might also include values for ether extract fat which is the amount of fat in a sample. Since forage is very low in fat this number isnt one we generally look closely at when analyzing hay. You might also see something called RFV or relative feed value. This is generally used more for cattle nutrition but is an approximation of the quality of the hay. A value of 100 applies to goodquality alfalfa hay. The higher the RFV the better quality the hay for a ruminants digestive system. The forage testing lab may have several levels of analysis to choose from and you can read what components are included in each package and select one based on your needs.
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