Johnson Grass and Nitrogen poisoning

[BrokeFarmer]

I have heard that in times of drought Johnson grass retains enough nitrogen to poison cattle. If this is true does it lose the nitrogen if it is cut for hay?

Thanks in advance!

 

[MikeC]

I have heard that in times of drought Johnson grass retains enough nitrogen to poison cattle. If this is true does it lose the nitrogen if it is cut for hay?

Thanks in advance!

Prussic acid yes. Nitrates no.

 

[IluvABbeef]

From what I know, I doubt that nitrogen (I should really say nitrate) will be lost when you cut the grass.

 

[BrokeFarmer]

I have heard that in times of drought Johnson grass retains enough nitrogen to poison cattle. If this is true does it lose the nitrogen if it is cut for hay?

Thanks in advance!

Prussic acid yes. Nitrates no.

Thanks MikeC, Maybe I should have asked the question another way. Hay is very scarce in these parts, I have the oppurtunity to cut 30 acres that hasnt been cut all year, It isnt the best field by no means but it is better than nothing, it has alot of mature Johnson grass, I was really just wondering if I should be concerned about the johnson Grass?

Thanks again!

 

[Wewild]

I have heard that in times of drought Johnson grass retains enough nitrogen to poison cattle. If this is true does it lose the nitrogen if it is cut for hay?

Thanks in advance!

Prussic acid yes. Nitrates no.

Thanks MikeC, Maybe I should have asked the question another way. Hay is very scarce in these parts, I have the oppurtunity to cut 30 acres that hasnt been cut all year, It isnt the best field by no means but it is better than nothing, it has alot of mature Johnson grass, I was really just wondering if I should be concerned about the johnson Grass?

Thanks again!

We cut Johnson grass for hay. We have never had it tested but I guess you could if your concerned.

 

[hillrancher]

I have heard that in times of drought Johnson grass retains enough nitrogen to poison cattle. If this is true does it lose the nitrogen if it is cut for hay?

Thanks in advance![/quote

I cut johnson grass every year, have never had any problem. If cut in the boot good hay.

 

[Brandonm2]

I have heard that in times of drought Johnson grass retains enough nitrogen to poison cattle. If this is true does it lose the nitrogen if it is cut for hay?

Thanks in advance!

Prussic acid yes. Nitrates no.

Thanks MikeC, Maybe I should have asked the question another way. Hay is very scarce in these parts, I have the oppurtunity to cut 30 acres that hasnt been cut all year, It isnt the best field by no means but it is better than nothing, it has alot of mature Johnson grass, I was really just wondering if I should be concerned about the johnson Grass?

Thanks again!

We cut Johnson grass for hay. We have never had it tested but I guess you could if your concerned.

We baled it for years and only had it tested once. I don't know how it has been in Georgia or Tennessee; BUT I would get it tested THIS year. IF you were every going to have a bad batch, as sparce as rain as been this year; this would be the one.

Brokefarmer: If you can bale it grab it. IF it tests positive for prussic acid or nitrates after it is baled, take it out of the barn, leave it outside (where the cows can't get to it), and in 4 to 6 months advertise it as mulch hay and you will get your money back and then some easily.

 

[Wewild]

We baled it for years and only had it tested once. I don't know how it has been in Georgia or Tennessee; BUT I would get it tested THIS year. IF you were every going to have a bad batch, as sparce as rain as been this year; this would be the one.

Thanks for the advice.

We baled after 3 good weeks of rain in July here and very little rain has fell since then.

I don't worry about that cutting. It is the cutting coming up. How can you test it without putting too much money into it?

I have the same concerns stated. Help me understand more if you can.

 

[BrokeFarmer]

In a normal rainfall year this would be of no concern to me, just concerned this year because it is so dry. Since I have never heard of prussic acid...I guess its time to google :shock:

 

[Crowderfarms]

The state has warned folks here that Johnson Grass does indeed contain Nitrates, due to the dought.Prussic acid is usually found after a freeze. The old tale is wait ten days between freezes, then cut, and the acid will be gone. Makes me scratch my head.

 

[BrokeFarmer]

http://www.agry.purdue.edu/Ext/forages/ ... /ay196.htm

Good info here on prussic acid

 

[Wewild]

The state has warned folks here that Johnson Grass does indeed contain Nitrates, due to the dought.Prussic acid is usually found after a freeze. The old tale is wait ten days between freezes, then cut, and the acid will be gone. Makes me scratch my head.

Is that because they applied nitrogen to their fields for a quick burst?

 

[BrokeFarmer]

The state has warned folks here that Johnson Grass does indeed contain Nitrates, due to the dought.Prussic acid is usually found after a freeze. The old tale is wait ten days between freezes, then cut, and the acid will be gone. Makes me scratch my head.

Is that because they applied nitrogen to their fields for a quick burst?

From what I just read I would say it is mainly the drought causing the high nitrate levels. Here is a good link on nitrates.

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/forage/pubs/nitrate.htm

 

[Crowderfarms]

The state has warned folks here that Johnson Grass does indeed contain Nitrates, due to the dought.Prussic acid is usually found after a freeze. The old tale is wait ten days between freezes, then cut, and the acid will be gone. Makes me scratch my head.

Is that because they applied nitrogen to their fields for a quick burst?

I'm not really sure. We have JG 7' tall that I'm afraid to cut until after we get some rain.IF it ever rains.No matter how short Hay supplies are here, I'd sure hate to put it up, and get someone's stock sick/die. The Katydids were out in July, so that means an early frost.May just end up letting it lay.

 

[Wewild]

The state has warned folks here that Johnson Grass does indeed contain Nitrates, due to the dought.Prussic acid is usually found after a freeze. The old tale is wait ten days between freezes, then cut, and the acid will be gone. Makes me scratch my head.

Is that because they applied nitrogen to their fields for a quick burst?

From what I just read I would say it is mainly the drought causing the high nitrate levels. Here is a good link on nitrates.

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/forage/pubs/nitrate.htm

Thanks it is a good resource.

 

[Brandonm2]

The state has warned folks here that Johnson Grass does indeed contain Nitrates, due to the dought.Prussic acid is usually found after a freeze. The old tale is wait ten days between freezes, then cut, and the acid will be gone. Makes me scratch my head.

Is that because they applied nitrogen to their fields for a quick burst?

I'm not really sure. We have JG 7' tall that I'm afraid to cut until after we get some rain.IF it ever rains.No matter how short Hay supplies are here, I'd sure hate to put it up, and get someone's stock sick/die. The Katydids were out in July, so that means an early frost.May just end up letting it lay.

Bale it and get it tested. IF it tests fine, somebody's cows or horses will need it this winter. IF it comes back at excessive levels of nitrates; builders, developers, strip miners, gardeners, and homeowners are still going to need mulch hay (and they will pay top $$$) and it is a lot better for the livestock if the non-farm people can get real mulch instead of buying up available feed quality hay for mulch purposes. You can make money off of baling it either way.

 

[Joey Martin]

I would test ot too . In nc you can send it to raleigh and they only charge $5.00 , once you know the levels you can feed it or not but if it isn't too high you can slowly mix it in with other hay and it won't hurt them ,

 

[larryshoat]

After all that has been written on nitrate poisoning have any of you guys ever known of a documented case of nitrate poisoning ? Just curious.

 

[dcara]

If JG gets rained on after it is drought stressed the prussic acid levels will rise and it can become dangerous. I had some tested a couple of days after the only rain we had last September. Analysis reveled insignificant nitrate levels but dangerous Prussic acid levels. Recommendation from A&M was to cut it and let it lay for 10 days before baling, and then 30 more days after baling before feeding. Cows loved what little I had to feed them last winter due to the great fall and winter we had. But the hay lost a lot of leaf during baling due to it laying for 10 days in the heat.

 

[MikeC]

After all that has been written on nitrate poisoning have any of you guys ever known of a documented case of nitrate poisoning ? Just curious.

I have seen a many a case. When the vet finds the artery to put that blue stuff intravenously, the cows blood is brown instead of red. Chocolate brown.

When we had the dairy, we grazed sorghum-sudan and had to be extra careful during dry periods.