Agricultural News
Dr. Rosslyn Biggs on the Ranchers Thursday Lunchtime Series and the Reports of Toxic Johnson Grass
Wed, 06 Jul 2022 15:09:15 CDT
The Ranchers Thursday lunchtime Webinar Series is back at Oklahoma State University Extension. Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Intern Cheyenne Leach spoke with Dr. Rosslyn Biggs about the series. She said this is a fantastic opportunity to get information on a wide variety of topics, "We are offering a series about every quarter. We have one right now on Cutting costs in cow-calf operations." Biggs said the easiest way to get involved or sign up is by going to beef.okstate.edu, "You can learn about all the available resources. The nice thing about having those 40 sessions (previously) is that they were recorded, so the presentations and the slides that went with them are available on the website."
Upcoming topics include:
July 7: Managing fescue and bermudagrass pastures to extend fall and winter grazing with Brian Pugh, OSU Extension
July 14: Fall seeding legumes to reduce fertilizer inputs with Mike Trammel, OSU Extension
July 21: Should I deworm cows? How do I know? What products? with John Gilliam, OSU College of Veterinary Medicine
July 28: Protein sources; what are the options to reduce cost? with Paul Beck, OSU Extension
August 4: Minimizing winter supplement cost with David Lalman, OSU Extension
Biggs said you can also sign up for new webinars as they become available,"You can join from your phone, your computer, or if you are on the road, you can even call in and listen. So they are really in person, so-to-speak, at least virtually, and if you are not available, you can come back and listen to the recordings when it's convenient."
Outside of the ranchers series, Biggs has also been watching reports for Prussic Acid in cattle, "We had a number of reports early last week coming out of predominantly western Oklahoma of cattle deaths. Fortunately, not a lot. But of, producers being subject to cattle deaths related to prussic acid or cyanide. On those particular cattle in those herds, It was believed to be associated with consuming Johnson grass, a member of the sorghum family. Biggs said other members of that family that can cause problems, "We definitely want to recommend that producers talk to their local county Extension educator and learn about testing options, particularly looking for summer pastures. This is the time of year pastures are starting to look a little burnt up, of course, and so looking for different options." Biggs added that OSU has a great fact sheet focused on prussic acid."
Biggs said There is also some available testing for prussic Acid metals, "Our county extension educators have access as a general rule to tests that can be done in the field. Now they're not quantitative tests. They just will tell you is there a presence of prussic acid or cyanide in that particular sample." She said Those tests are, however, a little bit tricky, "They have to be performed correctly and making sure we're getting good samples for those. If Producers are looking for a quantitative test, "That's a test where we get actual measurements on what's in those plants; then we have available labs here at OSU."
Biggs said regarding how often producers should be testing, it's really when you are looking for those new pastures, "It's something to be aware of. It's important to note that we can have other toxicities, such as nitrate, even in the same kind of plants. And so we want to be looking at any time we're looking at new pastures, or we have rapid growth. Those are maybe times that we want to take a closer look and test."
To view the Rancher's Thursday Lunchtime Series webinars click here
To read more on Prussic Acid and other cattle topics, click here:
You can also see Dr. Biggs on SunUP discussing Prussic Acid here:
To hear the complete conversation between Cheyenne and Dr. Biggs, click or tap below.
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