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David Dickey of Southtown Dairy Farm, South New Berlin, NY, was named overall grand champion in the 26th-annual World's Forage Analysis Superbowl during a luncheon held yesterday – Wednesday, Sept. 30 – at World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. Dickey finished first with Mycogen F2F449, a brown midrib (BMR) silage-corn hybrid that tested 38.4% starch, 32.5% NDF and 67.8% NDF digestibility.

Grand champion first-time entrant was David Sensening, Platteville, WI, with a Masters Choice 550 silage/grain hybrid testing 41.7% starch, 32% NDF and 67.5% NDF digestibility.

Mike Mc Namara, Emerald, WI, won the standard dairy corn silage (non-BMR) category with a DeKalb hybrid that tested 42.4% starch, 30.2% NDF and 59.3% NDF digestibility. Second- and third-place finishers were, respectively, Mark and Angela Brown, Dodgeville, WI, and S & B Dairy, Sigel, IL.

In the BMR corn silage category, Steiner Farms, Sterling, OH, took top honors with a sample of Mycogen F2F700 that tested 34% starch, 41.2% NDF and 66.4% NDF digestibility. Second- and third-place finishers were Michael Brubaker, Mt. Joy, PA, and Holme's Acres Farm, New Woodstock, NY.

Perennial winners Karl and Barb Wogsland, Scandinavia, WI, took first place in the dairy hay category with a first-cutting sample of NK’s Genoa alfalfa. It tested 21.9% crude protein, 27.3% NDF and 58.1% NDF digestibility with a relative forage quality (RFQ) score of 265. David Olson, Lena, WI, and Frank Ott, Jr., Remington, VA, placed second and third, respectively.

The top dairy haylage entry was submitted by Cross Farms LLC, Oshkosh, WI. Its sample of Hybriforce-400 tested 24.6% crude protein, 23.8% NDF and 40.3% NDF digestibility. Its RFQ score was 266. Kennard Wagner, Manitowoc, WI, and Sand Creek Dairy LLC, Hastings, MI, placed second and third, respectively.

A fourth-cutting entry from Ervin Gara III, Torrington, WY, won the commercial hay category. It tested 24.6% crude protein, 23.1% NDF and 53.9% NDF digestibility with a 302 RFQ score. Second- and third-place honors went to Danny Decker, Cortez, CO, and Josh and Gretchen Kamps, Belmont, WI.

Frequent superbowl finalists Dan and Ruth Kamps, Darlington, WI, won the baleage category. Their Pioneer 55V48 alfalfa entry had crude protein at 25.5%, NDF at 28.7% and NDF digestibility at 52% with a 238 RFQ score. Kendall Guither, Walnut, IL, and Haag Family Dairy, Reedsburg, WI, took second and third place, respectively.

David Sensening, the top first-time entrant, also won the corn silage Quality Counts award, and Meggie Walz, Glen Haven, WI, won the grass/legume Quality Counts award.

Organizing partners of the annual forage quality contest are AgSource Cooperative Services, DairyBusiness Communications, Hay & Forage Grower, U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, University of Wisconsin College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and World Dairy Expo.

To enter next year’s competition, contact AgSource Soil and Forage Laboratory, 106 North Cecil St., Bonduel, WI 54107, or call 715-758-2178. Entries are due in September 2010. For more on this year’s overall grand champion, watch for the November issue of Hay & Forage Grower.