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Little River, TX | 20% CP 30% or less ADF, & 40% or less NDF is the old dairy standard. It is still a quality hay just not what the many feed lot dairies want.
RFV is found by applying magic numbers to the reported ADF & ADF values. Protein is not considered for RFV. This year there is so little difference in price between less than 150 RFV and abd tge better tgab 150 RFV that it is thought by some to be better for net income to go for the lower quality and higher yield. In many parts of the country hay is so scarce your hay may be worth some good money.
In my little corner of the world very few even look at RFV, TDN or CP. Alfalfa is alfalfa regardless of the numbers. True the animals know the difference.
I assume your hay was cut at late bloom or at most first bloom. If you are in the humid east conditions the hay was spread out in a full width swath. The idea is to cure the hay down low enough that respiration is stopped as quickly as possible. The theory is the longer there is respiration in the windrow the more carbohydrates and proteins are burned off. When this happens the ADF & NDF goes up and the RFV goes down.
The raking was done with enough humidity to retain the leaves,
The hay was baled between being too tough to bale and being dry too bale.
The hay sampling probes were taken centered on the bale ends, and not on the top of the bales' ends.
If you want sample the hay again, & send the sample to a wet testing lab rather than a NIR lab.
The hay you mentioned is what I sell to horse owners.
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Alfalfa: RFV, ADF and prices
