Attention Cattlemen (Drought Nitrate Toxicity)

[cedarvalley]

I found this article very interesting, especially if your going to feed any cornstalks. http://http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-news/Forage-nitrates-hottest-topic-on-Missouri-beef-tour-165480716.html

[gone-a-milkin]

My understanding is that the nitrates are more concentrated in the lower leaves and bottom of the stalks.

After testing many fields of stunty corn, my Farmer Boss is out there right now (its still light ) chopping corn for sileage.
It was all tested for free by the extension agent.
Some areas of the fields had very high concentrations of nitrates (high ground) while the lower portion,
especially the partially shaded areas, were fine.
It has been very educational, if nothing else.

I still worry that it wont be the best feed and some serious culling decisions have been made to go along with this,
but something is better than nothing.

My boss's method has been to leave the highground completely alone, and to set the chopper as high as it will go for the middles.

After the micotoxin incident with the distillers grain a couple years back (7 slipped calves and 4 preg heifer deaths)
he is trying his best to keep costs down w/o doing harm to the stock.

I dont make any of the decisions, just milk extra during forage-gathering times.

Even the 'good' alfalfa hay the dairy herd has been eating is very dusty and they dont really like it.


Sucks to be a cow right now. Poor girls.

[springvalley]

Yep, going to be hard for all of us thtas for sure, hay is very dusty. I have no idea what I`m doing yet, might be some of the cows go to freezer camp and for sure every steer and bigger heifer I don`t want. May just be a few cows and a hand full of horses that are kept for next year. Going to get interesting if the fall rains don`t come, will be no spring pasture to get to either. > Marc

[sassafras manor]

Would it be safe to graze cattle on the corn stubble after the crop has been harvested on not? Our tenant farmer planted our corn later than many other local farmers did and we will actually have some corn that will yield compared to many others. With the drought I was planning to put our herd of 9 head out on the stubble thru the fall to give the pastures a chance to catch up. What do you think?

[kycrawler]

The highest percentage of nitrates are in the bottom of the stalk .I am currently chopping at 12 inches high instead of 6 and only getting about2- 3 ton per acre .. after the leaves and stalks dry you should be ok with nitrates in the fodder nitrates decrease as the plants mature more . I have rolled about 15 acres of soybeans with almost no pods on them going to be a tough year for sure but i think there is going to be money to be made buying young stock this fall and wintering it over till next year . I bought 12 jersey heifers at the auction last week 350 lb average for .42 per lb

[ramiller5675]

Originally Posted by sassafras manor

Would it be safe to graze cattle on the corn stubble after the crop has been harvested on not? Our tenant farmer planted our corn later than many other local farmers did and we will actually have some corn that will yield compared to many others. With the drought I was planning to put our herd of 9 head out on the stubble thru the fall to give the pastures a chance to catch up. What do you think?

The only way to know if the nitrate levels are safe to graze or bale is to have a sample tested.

Locally, our extension office will do a quick test on the stalks to see if any nitrates are present, then you can send off a sample to get a detailed analysis to get the actual numbers.

It only costs $6.00 to do a nitrate test, which even if I had to send in a bunch of different samples is a bargain compared to one dead cow or calf.