2) chop the forage with a cleaver or axe to break the stems

3) place the chopped forage on a paper plate and place in microwave oven

4) on a medium setting, microwave the chopped forage sample for 4-5 minutes

5) remove forage from paper plate and weigh the forage

6) return forage to the paper plate and microwave for 2 minutes on a medium setting

7) remove forage from paper plate and weigh the forage

8) repeat steps 6 and 7 until there is no change in weight

9) the final weight is the dry matter content of the forage sample

HOW TO DETERMINE THE MOISTURE CONTENT:

Subtract the dry matter content from the initial 100 grams. The result is the moisture content (in percent) of the forage sample.

E.g.

100 grams of forage measured out.

After microwaving, the weight of the forage is 30 grams
or 30% dry matter content.

Therefore,
100 - 30 = 70 grams of water or 70% moisture content.

 

Revised: September 30, 2001