Hay Farmer of the Year – Bill Conrad
Bill Conrad is a 4th generation Jackson County farmer who farms north of Highway 2 in the Bascom Community. Over the years, he has raised several traditional crops including peanuts, soybeans, corn, wheat, triticale, and pine trees. For the past decade, however, he has shifted his focus to being a quality hay producer for livestock farms in the Tri-State area.
Bill, with the help of his son Joe, produce perennial peanut and alfalfa for square bale hay to sell to horse, cattle, and goat farms. Their square-baled, high-quality hay is in high demand, because their customers know the quality is consistently high. One thing that sets Bill apart from his competitors is that he sends in hay samples for quality testing from almost every cutting. He can market his hay on more than just reputation, but can show the unbiased lab test results to prove the excellent quality of the hay he produces. This data has also been very useful for Bill as a guide as to the best practices to protect forage quality in the hay he produces.
New in 2025, Bill and Joe built a 7,400 square foot, fully enclosed hay barn. With this barn, their hay will be fully protected from rainfall and daylight. They also acquired two acres of planting material of a new Bermudagrass variety. Newell Bermudagrass was released by the University of Florida at the end of 2024. Bill hopes to establish an 8-acre nursery of this new grass enabling him to harvest enough planting material for 80 acres in 2027. They also purchased a used sprig planter, so Bill and Joe will be able to offer their service as custom planters of perennial peanut and Bermudagrass in the coming years.
Bill submitted multiple perennial peanut hay samples into the Southeast Hay Contest this year. His highest quality hay was of the Tito variety with a relative feed quality or RFQ index of 246, with 21% crude protein, 71% total digestible nutrients or TDN, and crude fiber of only 18%. Think of RFQ as a single index number that represents overall hay quality by combining fiber digestibility, protein, and energy content. Anything over 100 is considered quality hay. This hay sample was preserved with 15% moisture or 85% dry matter. The lab test results estimated that, if fed free choice, animals would consume more than 4% of their body weight in dry matter intake (DMI), which is double what is traditionally estimated for average quality hay. In essence these numbers prove that this was PRIME QUALITY hay.
Bill’s perennial peanut hay also won 1st place in the Southeast Hay Contest out of 20 entries in the Other Legume Hay division. Bill Conrad has been recognized as the Hay Farmer of the Year for 12 straight years because he annually produces the best hay in Jackson County. This year, Bill has decided 12 in a row is enough, he has decided to take himself out of the county competition in 2026, but he will still be submitting samples the the Southeast Hay Contest, that is associated with the Sunbelt Ag Expo.
The Hay Farmer of the Year award is sponsored by SunSouth John Deere. This award is based on the county grown hay with the highest Relative Forage Quality or RFQ score. Entries into this annual contest are now accepted year-round, so contact the Jackson County Extension Office to have your best hay cuttings sampled and submitted into next year’s competition.