By Neil Tietz
A Bloomington, WI, dairy farmer is the new World’s Champion Forage Producer.
Terry Mergen won the 2001 World’s Forage Analysis Superbowl, a forage quality contest that culminates each year at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. He was named during a luncheon held Oct. 4 at this year’s expo.
His winning bale silage sample tested 25.7% crude protein with a 233 relative feed value score.
For winning the contest, Mergen will get one year’s free use of a New Holland skid-steer loader.
He entered four of the contest’s six classes and placed high with each entry. In addition to topping the contest with bale silage, Mergen placed second in dairy haylage, third in dairy hay and 20th in corn silage.
His bale silage sample was slightly better than one entered by Joshua Kamps, Darlington, WI. When Mergen became the overall winner, Kamps was named winner of that class. Two entries by Mark Steffensmeier, also of Bloomington, WI, placed second and third.
Horning Farms, Manchester, MI, won the dairy hay class. Wayne Harris, Lister, British Columbia, placed second and Mergen third.
The dairy haylage winner is Mark Wright, Watertown, WI, followed by Mergen and McClellan Farms, Delavan, WI.
Larson Magic Farms, Buhl, ID, placed first in commercial hay. Joshua Kamps was runnerup, and Kamps’ parents, Dan & Ruth, came in third.
The best corn silage sample was entered by Gilbertson Farms, Elk Mound, WI. Alger Dairy Farm, Mantua, OH, placed second and Bomaz, a dairy farm owned by Bob and Greg Zwald, Hammond, WI, finished third.
Top first-time entrant was Larry Muck, Meadville, OH.
The annual superbowl is sponsored by Hay & Forage Grower, AgSource Cooperative Services/CRI, DairyBusiness Communications, World Dairy Expo and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.