A total of 843 samples from 27 different states comprised the field of entries for this year’s World Forage Analysis Superbowl. The highest placing samples were on display last week at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis.

Doug and Courtney Dotterer, Mill Hall, Pa., submitted this year’s Grand Champion Forage entry, which was sponsored by Kemin. It was entered in the brown midrib corn silage class and had a 30-hour neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDFD30) of 73.9 percent and a milk per ton value of 4,139.

The Grand Champion First-Time Entrant in this year’s contest was submitted by Matt Held, Slinger, Wis. It came from the baleage category and had a NDFD30 of 78.2 percent and a milk per ton value of 4,117. The First-Time Entrant award is sponsored by Kuhn North America.

Dairy categories are placed based on forage analysis (60 percent), visual assessment (20 percent), and milk per ton (10 percent). Commercial sample criteria are forage analysis (70 percent) and visual assessment (30 percent). Dairyland Labs, located in DePere, Wis., performed the laboratory testing of each sample.

More than $22,000 was doled out to the champions and the top four placing finishers in each category.

Quality Counts awards were given based on potentially digestible neutral detergent fiber (pdNDF). The criteria for these awards changes each year and is unknown to participants at the time of sample submission. Hylight Dairy LLC, Adams, N.Y., entered this year’s winning corn silage sample, having a pdNDF of 37.07 percent. Windy Ridge Farms, Marionville, Mo., entered the top Quality Counts hay/haylage sample, which had a pdNDF of 48.47 percent. Croplan by WinField United sponsored the Quality Counts awards.

Organizing partners for the 2018 contest were Dairyland Laboratories Inc., Hay & Forage Grower, U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and World Dairy Expo. Additional monetary support is provided by Mycogen Seeds as a Platinum Sponsor, Protexia and Scherer Inc. as Gold Sponsors, and the National Hay Association, Passion Ag Inc., and Prairie Creek Seeds as Silver Sponsors. Individual category sponsors are listed below (Photo credit: Harlen Persinger).

Grand Champion Forage Producer

Pictured from left: Eugene Rodberg, Kemin (sponsor); winners Courney and Doug Dotterer (Mill Hall, Pa.); and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.

Champion Baleage

Pictured from left: Mark King, Agri-King (sponsor); winner Edwin Leid (Athens, Wis.); Jason Alsum, Agri-King; and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.

1st Place – Edwin Leid, Athens, Wis.

2nd Place – Fisher Dairy, Rockville, Ind.

3rd Place – Katherine Guither, Walnut, Ill.

4th Place – Vogel Family Farms, Minden City, Mich.

5th Place – H and S Dairy, Morgantown, Ky.

Champion Commercial Hay

Pictured from left: winner Teri Hinman from Lazy 2K Livestock (Wheatland, Wyo.); Dave Hallberg, NEXGROW (sponsor); and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.

1st Place – Lazy 2K Livestock, Wheatland, Wyo.

2nd Place – Hardrock Farms Inc., Wheatland, Wyo.

3rd Place – SR Farms, Wilsonville, Neb.

4th Place – Kamps Alfalfa Farms, Darlington, Wis.

5th Place – McGee Ranch, Idalou, Tex.

Champion Dairy Hay

Pictured from left: Jeremy Hayward, W-L Alfalfas (sponsor); winner Tristan Swartz from Swartz & Sons Farm LLC (Gilman, Wis.); and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.

1st Place – Swartz and Son Farms LLC, Gilman, Wis.

2nd Place – Don and Nancy Hasselquist, Osceola, Wis.

3rd Place – Harry F. Adams Jr., Byron, Ill.

4th Place – KMR Dairy Inc., Onarga, Ill.

5th Place – S & B Dairy, Sigel, Ill.

Champion Grass Hay

Pictured from left: Luke Wilson, Barenbrug USA (sponsor); and winner Mark Rueth from Rosedale Seed (Oxford, Wis.).

1st place – Rosedale Seed, Oxford, Wis.

2nd Place – Lazy 2K Livestock, Wheatland, Wyo.

3rd Place – Hardrock Farms Inc., Wheatland, Wyo.

th Place – Danko Farms, Powell, Wyo.

5th Place – Don and Nancy Hasselquist, Osceola, Wis.

Champion Haylage

Pictured from left: Taylor Weisensel, Ag-Bag (sponsor); winner David Olson from Olson Farms (Lena, Wis.); and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.

1st Place – Olson Farms, Lena, Wis.

2nd Place – Twin Cities Vue Dairy, Manitowoc, Wis.

3rd Place – Ken Miller Farms, Marlette, Mich.

4th Place – Hilltop Holsteins, Osceola, Wis.

5th Place – Stoll Farms, Cascade, Iowa

Champion Standard Corn Silage

Pictured from left: Shane Dailey, Syngenta (sponsor); Todd Bricker, Byron Seeds (Salem, Ohio), representing winner Vernon Zimmerman (Shiloh, Ohio); and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.

1st Place – Vernon Zimmerman, Shiloh, Ohio

2nd Place – Sievert Farms, Sobieski, Wis.

3rd Place – Fredrick Farms, Owen, Wis.

4th Place – Mill Creek Dairy, Kimball, Minn.

5th Place – Junion Homestead Farms, Casco, Wis.

Champion Brown Midrib Corn Silage

Pictured from left: John Anderson, Mycogen Seeds (sponsor); Leland Miller, Mycogen Seeds; winner Shawn Bossard from Morrisville State College (Morrisville, N.Y.); and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.

1st Place – Morrisville State College, Morrisville, N.Y.

2nd Place – Strutz Farms, Two Rivers, Wis.

3rd Place – McKnight River Breeze, Chase Mills, N.Y.

4th Place – Johnson Creek Dairy, Mosinee, Wis.

5th Place – Four Hands Holsteins, Amery, Wis.

Quality Counts Corn Silage

Pictured from left: Randy Welch, Croplan by WinField United (sponsor); winners Mary and Jerry Stockman from Hylight Dairy LLC (Adams, N.Y.), and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.

Quality Counts Hay/Haylage

No photo available

Champion First-Time Entrant

Pictured from left: Heather Akins, Kuhn North America (sponsor); winner Matt Held (Slinger, Wis.), and Al Deming, board president of World Dairy Expo.