Grazing stalks sprouted corn

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MtnCows93

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ive had my cows on cornstalks for a couple weeks now and today i noticed theres alot of lost corn cernals that sprouted and are about 4'' tall now, im worried when we get a frost that it might make those sprouts produce prussic acid. what do yall think?
 
I would think it would definitely be possible with a light frost. I would pull em for 2 weeks after. A good hard killing frost should be ok.
You could go ahead and kill it with round up.
 
what about spraying it with 2 4 d? i dont want roundup in my sprayer ever. i wonder if alot of people have problems with prussic acid in new sprouts cause ive been searching high and low on the internet and havent found anything so im not completely convinced it will produce prussic acid but i cant afford any dead cows
 
MtnCows93":13gg1hl5 said:
what about spraying it with 2 4 d? i dont want roundup in my sprayer ever. i wonder if alot of people have problems with prussic acid in new sprouts cause ive been searching high and low on the internet and havent found anything so im not completely convinced it will produce prussic acid but i cant afford any dead cows

Corn doesn't produce prussic acid. Its possible for you to have nitrate poisoning if you fertilized the corn sprouts heavily but I don't know why you'd do this. Here is a link that echoes what Magis posted.

https://www.vtdairy.dasc.vt.edu/content ... orages.pdf
 
All indications are that prussic acid is not an issue with seedling corn, even if frosted. Highly unlikely that excessive nitrates will be a problem in 4" tall corn seedlings. I'm surprised the cows aren't homing in on those fresh green shoots instead of old dry leaves/shucks.
I sure wouldn't waste time and $$ spraying with a herbicide - that's free feed! 2,4-D only gets broadleaf weeds; wouldn't do anything to corn, anyway.
 
If grazing sprouted corn killed cattle I wouldn't have any I have been doing it in recent years. Let them eat and leave them alone.
 
well thanks guys! im glad id dont produce prissic acid, and i looked and they are eating them sprouts like crazy! thats a little bonus feed too
 
MtnCows93":2g7tb3fs said:
what about spraying it with 2 4 d? i dont want roundup in my sprayer ever. i wonder if alot of people have problems with prussic acid in new sprouts cause ive been searching high and low on the internet and havent found anything so im not completely convinced it will produce prussic acid but i cant afford any dead cows

24d is for broadleaf weeds. Has to do with their leaf structure. Weeds have one type and grasses and sorghums, corn being a relative have another, a straight grain parallel to the rib. Weeds have a cross linked structure and that's why you can put it out and kill one thing without killing the other....unless you over do it or violate one of the other rules, like wrong weather.

Never heard of PA on corn. TAMU ag extension has www papers on the subject of PA.
 

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