Air August 27, 2003

Thank you Gary, and good morning everyone. Wheat production meeting is coming up next week, September 3rd! As of now we have Scott Staggenborg, Ray Lamond and myself on the program and we are gearing up for a very practical and very solid wheat meeting. Plan to attend.

Just like last year we have a lot of crops that we would have normally been harvesting for grain that are likely to be utilized as a livestock forage resource. When that happens it usually means that we've been experiencing drought conditions and plant growth has been reduced. When that happens we always have to keep nitrates in mind, and possibly prussic acid as well. Both of these potentially poisonous compounds were a problem last year and could also be a problem this year. One thing in our favor this year is that we had better early season growing conditions so in many cases we had better vegetative growth. When this happens we usually will have fewer concerns about nitrates. Nitrates can accumulate to toxic levels in almost any plant, but we are usually most concerned with corn and sorghums. We know that nitrates in a plant at harvest time will stay in the plant. We also know that if the plants are ensiled nitrates will usually be reduced by half. And we also remember from last year that cattle can adjust to fairly high levels of nitrate if they are given time. I've seen a couple of nitrate samples in sorghum this year, and while slightly higher than normal, they weren't as bad as I expected and were well within usable ranges. Simply be aware and don't hesitate to test. We can send samples over to the college for nitrate testing with fast turn around and fairly low cost. The work the cattle into higher nitrate forages slowly and cautiously. Prussic acid is usually a problem in tender young sorghums. Once the plant gets some size, or after it is frosted or harvested the prussic acid dissipates in about a week. Our biggest risk is going to be late season rains that trigger a lot of sucker shoots. Both of these threats are manageable. The biggest problem is when we don't take them seriously and they sneak up on us. Pay attention, recognize the potential risk and proceed with caution. For more information on either one or info on testing your feed, call the extension office!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2003.

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