Every other year the Utah Farm Bureau and Utah State University Extension holds the hay and forage symposium in St. George. As well as an opportunity to escape the cold, smoggy valleys in the north, it’s a chance for producers to keep current with trends and developments in the hay industry.

The two-day event covered numerous topics from marketing to safety. Dan Undersander, professor of agronomy and extension and research forage agronomist, from the University of Wisconsin, talked about marketing to niche hay buyers and consistency in hay sampling. A hay judging contest and panel discussion were included in the symposium.

Of the 20 different presentations, one was especially interesting to me — the Northern Utah Nutrient Survey 2008. Early last summer I collected soil and tissue samples from two alfalfa fields in Tooele County, sent them to the analytical laboratory at Utah State University and had them tested for 17 essential nutrients. Thirty-six additional samples from 10 other northern Utah counties were analyzed as well.

The objective of the survey was to determine if deficiencies are occurring in secondary (sulfur, calcium and magnesium) and micro-nutrients (zinc, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, boron, nickel and chlorine).

So what did we find out? Primary, secondary and micro-nutrient deficiencies probably occur in 10 percent or more of northern Utah alfalfa fields. Calcium, magnesium and possibly nickel deficiencies occurred in a few fields. Tissue analysis should be used when evaluating secondary and micro-nutrients and more research needs to be done to establish accurate adequacy levels for alfalfa tissue at pre-bloom maturities.

This is one specific example of topics presented at the symposium. If you would like more information about this study or the 2009 hay and forage symposium topics you can contact me at the USU Extension office at 435-277-2407.

Linden Greenhalgh is the Utah State University Tooele County Extension director and ag agent.