If you have ever dealt with Extension folks much, you know we are always suggesting you test something - maybe your soil so you can know what fertilizer to put out or maybe your hay so you can know what you are actually feeding your horse. So you followed our advise and got your hay tested. If you used the NC Department of Agriculture lab, then you got a report with a whole bunch of words and numbers on it. Let's take a really quick look at what some of those numbers mean.
The first thing I suggest people look at is Dry Matter. This basically tells you how much water is in the hay. Too wet and you could have mold issues and even spontaneous combustion. Too dry and it can be dusty, brittle and you can have leaf loss/shatter. Remember leaves are typically where most of the nutrition is located. Ideally hay should be between 10-15% moisture. Or dry matter should be between 85-90% on the test report.
For the next components, you want to look at the numbers under the Dry Matter Basis column. This allows you to compare different hays to each other by eliminating the differences in moisture content. You can compare apples to apples. Look at the Adjusted Crude Protein component. This accounts for the amount of crude protein that is actually available to the animal. Adult horses at maintenance typically need about 10% crude protein. Horses that are working hard (think a horse in training or a nursing mare) or a yearling will have higher protein needs. In general, hays with a legume (alfalfa or clover) component will have a higher protein level than a strictly grass hay.
Nitrates can accumulate in hays during stressful times like drought or if too much nitrogen fertilizer was applied. (not likely for that to happen too often given current fertilizer prices) The general maximum acceptable level for nitrates is 0.5%. Note that different labs may report nitrates in different ways.
Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) measures how digestible the hay is. In other words, how much of the hay can actually be used and utilized by the animal. The more mature the hay is when it is mowed the lower the digestibility because there is more cellulose and lignin present which is difficult for the equine digestive system to break down. ADF number below 45 are typically good while numbers above 45 may indicate little nutritional value.
Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) is an indication of intake - how much will the horse actually consume. If the hay is very mature, the animal is not going to want to consume a lot because it is tough and stemmy. This is a measure of insoluble fiber, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. NDF values under 65 are generally good, while values over 65 may indicate the horses will not eat it.
Digestible energy (DE) is given in a Mcal/pound measurement. Horses in light work need approximately 20 Mcal of DE per day.
The calcium:phosphorus ratio should be between 1:1 to 3:1 for adult horses at maintenance.
The above information is very general in nature so that you, as a horse owner, can gain a basic understanding of what those number on the forage report mean. Contact your Extension agent for additional information on forage reports or taking forage samples. This article did not discuss sugars and non structural carbohydrates, which may be important when feeding horses with metabolic concerns. Your veterinarian or nutritionist can provide additional assistance for individual horse nutritional needs.
Here are some links to some good articles for additional information.
https://extension.umn.edu/horse-nutrition/understanding-your-hay-analysis#:~:text=Optimum%20horse%20hay%20moisture%20ranges,%3A1%20and%201%3A1.
https://extension.psu.edu/understanding-a-hay-analysis
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