A Mapleton farmer is among the winners in the first annual Milk Maker Forage Competition.
Alma area farmer Henk Dirksen of Dirksen Holsteins placed first in the 2nd to 4th Cut Haylage Class.
Ten other prizes were awarded in Hay, Balage BMR Corn Silage and 1st Cut Haylage classes. Dirksen also placed third in the Corn Silage category of the event.
The Ontario Forage Council (OFC), along with the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA) partnered with the Canadian Dairy XPO to introduce the competition. The Milk Maker Forage Competition was a new feature of the Canadian Dairy XPO which took place on Feb. 5 to 6 at the Stratford Rotary Complex.
The competition was open to all forage grown for dairy production in Canada. Producers from across the country were invited to submit samples for lab and visual analysis; the first-place winners from each class were displayed at the Milk Maker booth the Canadian Dairy XPO.
Classes were judged based on a variety of criteria, including nutritional and physical analysis, particle size by PennState and VFA’s. Lab analysis was performed as a co-operative effort by SGS Agrifood Laboratories and A & L Canada Laboratories.
