Chattooga County Farm Bureau member Randall Selman won the 2011 Georgia Farm Bureau Quality Hay Contest.



Selman, who runs Selman Farms, submitted Tift 44 Bermuda grass for the contest and earned a relative forage quality (RFQ) score of 168.1.

He lives in Armuchee and grows hay on a total of 200 acres of rented land in Chattooga and Floyd counties, 130 in bermudagrass and the rest in fescue. His primary customers are horse owners. 



The contest drew 36 entries from 23 counties and consisted of quality analysis of hay grown by entrants using the University of Georgia's RFQ testing method, which measures nutrient content of the hay.

Georgia Farm Bureau sponsors the annual contest to encourage superior hay production in the state.



Entered samples had to have nitrate levels below 4,500 parts per million to be eligible for contest prizes.

The winners were announced during the 2011 GFB Annual Meeting on Jekyll Island.



Dene Channell of Greene County finished second, achieving an RFQ score of 158.6 with his submission of Tift 85 bermudagrass.

Neil Wingfield of Lee County was third with an RFQ of 154.6 for his coastal bermudagrass submission.

Mandy Elliot of Bibb County submitted bermudagrass and placed fourth at 152.6.

Keith Boozer of Monroe County was fifth, achieving an RFQ score of 146.2 with Tift 44.

Read more at http://www.gfb.org/gfbnews/GFBNewsMoreInfo.asp?RecordID=2467#ixzz1hkm3HEs6.