GFB News Magazine

Enter GFB Hay Contest: win use of Vermeer rake for a year

Posted on October 13, 2026 4:17 PM

Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) members are invited to enter the organization’s 35th Annual Quality Bermudagrass Hay Contest by Oct. 30. The contest winner will receive the free use of a Vermeer wheel rake for a year. The winner may buy the rake at a reduced price at the end of that year. GFB appreciates Vermeer's longtime support of the organization's hay contest. This is the 28th year Vermeer has sponsored it. 

Hay entered in the contest will be tested at a UGA lab using the Relative Forage Quality (RFQ) Test, which provides analysis of the nutritional value of the hay. Winners will be determined by the RFQ analysis and announced in December at the GFB Convention. Prizes will be presented to the top five producers. 

How to enter

Entry forms outlining complete contest rules are available at your county Farm Bureau office or at www.gfb.ag/HayContest. Only hay grown in Georgia by a GFB member is eligible. If you aren’t a member, please join at the county Farm Bureau office of your choice or at www.gfb.org/join/join-today.

Hay samples must be taken from fields with a minimum maturity or regrowth of at least 25 days. Hay must have been dried in the field and should not be artificially dried by fans or forced air. Forage samples must be collected with a hay probe from the core of the bale. 

There is a $25 fee for each entry to cover the lab test. Producers may enter more than one sample. Checks should be made payable to Georgia Farm Bureau. Entry fees, forms and samples should be sent to the GFB Public Policy Department 1620 Bass Road Macon, Ga., 31210. 

A producer submitting multiple samples can only place in the Top 5 with their highest scored sample but will receive analysis for all submitted samples.

Contest participants will receive a detailed copy of their hay analysis and may choose to have a free listing in the ’26/’27 online GFB Hay Directory available at www.gfb.ag/hay. The cost to list hay in the directory alone is $10 and may be submitted at any time. 

Previous first place winners are not eligible to win any prize category for five years from the year they won the contest but may enter a hay sample to have it evaluated.

What does RFQ say about hay?

RFQ is used to indicate a forage’s overall nutritional value and predicted intake by the livestock it is fed to. The number gives hay and livestock producers an idea of a forage's quality and can be used to establish a fair market value for hay.

UGA Extension says RFQ hay values could provide the framework for a quality hay marketing system. For instance, hay with a RFQ of 155 could conceptually be labeled “premium” hay, while hay with an RFQ of 100 could be labeled “fair.” 

To learn more about taking a hay sample and how to read forage reports, visit https://gfb.ag/ugahaysamples.

Contact GFB Ag Programs Specialist Chase McClure at 478.474.0679,ext. 5286 or cnmcclure@gfb.org for more information.

The winner of the GFB Quality Hay Contest will get the free use of a Vermeer 1224                                                                                   wheel rake for a year. /Photo courtesy of Vermeer