Q: Sight and smell are much less accurate means of judging quality feed that scientific testing. However, you can use them to judge whether feed is generally acceptable. For instance, smelling and looking at the feed determines how dusty, moldy, or even smelly the feed is. Hay and straw that are a little dustier and smell or look moldy may be lower quality, however if this is only appearing on the outside, the inside may be better quality. Mold and dust are unavoidable, especially if bales are stored outdoors, or forage is baled up wetter than it should be. Moldy hay will have to be fed to cattle, but it can reduce palatability or reduce feed intake to the point that cattle may refuse the feed altogether. Certain fungal molds can produce mycotoxins, which can cause health problems like infertility and abortions in breeding females. Since not all molds produce mycotoxins, the ones that do produce amounts that can be unpredictable. Silage that has a putrid smell to it is obviously feed that is getting spoiled. Not only will it smell like rotten bananas, but it will has have a dark, slimy look to it instead (and feels slimy when handled). Like with moldy hay, this can reduce palatability. Good silage has a brownish color that gives a sweet, fermented smell and, if tasted, the grains have a tangy, sharp, almost sweet taste. Grains with mold can be cause for concern too. They'll have the same musty, moldy smell like hay, and may have potential for the same problems. Hay, especially, that looks green is usually an indicator of good quality. But, green hay can still be had when it's tested to be as good quality forage as straw. Higher than normal precipitation with high temperatures, cutting mature forages, poor soil fertility, and improper curing and/or storing of bales can impact hay quality, even though the hay may look green and is not that stemmy. Usually stemmy hay or hay with a lot of stems is deemed poorer quality hay than that with more leafy material. The reason is that stems are often less palatable and retain less energy and protein than leaves do. But, if hay is harvested during a time of a lot of moisture and a lot of heat, even hay with less stemmy material is going to be poorer quality than you'd think. The best time to test your feed is right before it is fed to your animals. Forage samplers, probes, or corers, which are long hollow tubes designed to "core" into a bale of hay, straw, etc. Then send your sample to be analyzed at your local feed lab. Do not test your feed right after it has been harvested, although there's nothing wrong with sticking in a probe in a hay bale to test for moisture, as is often done (or should be) when making hay. Bale corers have widths that vary from 1/2 or 3/8" to over 1" or 1-1/8". Typically the larger diameter ones work best especially if you have hay or straw that is more stemmy. Where these large corers will cut through the stems, the smaller diameter samplers might slip past them and give misleading results when the samples are sent in. Take at least 10 to 20 samples per "forage lot," or the silage or hay that came from one field. That means taking a sample from at least 10 or 20 bales that came from that same field to get a representative sample. For silage, that means at least 10 or 20 samples from the same pile. Core each bale 12 to 15 inches in. The cores should be taken from the string- or netting-side of the bale, not the flat side, and pushed straight in (parallel to the ground), not at an angle. For silage, samples taken from 3 to 5 feet in. Options are to bag each sample, or to collect a set of samples from one lot in a clean, dry 5-gallon pail so they can be mixed and stored in plastic bags. Squeeze all the air out when you put the sampled forage in the bag, and send it to your local feed lab.
A: Assess your feed by smelling it and looking at it. Have your feed tested.

Q: Light torch. Take the pick and hold it like a pencil or paintbrush. If using a paper clip, bend it out all the way to a straight shape. Quickly take a pick out of flame and place on the ring in the desired location and start engraving your name or whatever you wish to write. The hot pick will easily melt through the PVC, so don't push too hard. When it does get hard to push, this means it is cooling down. You need to put the tip of the pick back into the flame until it glows red hot again and continue engraving. It will smell bad, but it is harmless. This step may take a while This will stop the possible deformation of the ring due to the heat from the pick.
A:
If you want to engrave your ring, take the propane/mapp gas torch and metal pick/ paper clip. Set torch on a low setting. 9 Place tip of pick/ paper clip into the blue part of the flame until it glows red. Once done engraving, place ring in cool water for 10-20 seconds.