Fatal Fungus Showing up in Missouri Pastures

A fungus that can kill horses and cattle is rampant in Missouri’s pastureland this summer — and has already felled at least four animals.

Ergot appears in grains and grasses when weather conditions are favorable, as they have been this year.

The fungus is so widespread state authorities are warning animal owners to be particularly vigilant and to move animals to non-infected fields.

“It’s very severe this year, and I want producers to be on the lookout for it,” said Craig Roberts, a professor of plant science with the University of Missouri Extension and the state’s forage specialist.

“I’ve seen it in every field and in every grass species.”

Ergot thrives when springs are cool and summers are hot, as has been the case this year. It typically infects grains, including wheat, oats and barley, but can affect grasses and pastureland, including hay fields.

“It can be fatal,” said Tim Evans, a veterinary toxicologist with the MU College of Veterinary Medicine. “I expect this year, we’re going to see problems.”

Evans said he recently was called to a farm in Northeast Missouri to help a local veterinarian identify what killed four cows in a 20-cow herd, which had been grazing on a pasture of fescue.

“I could see as I was driving onto the premises that the fescue was ergotized,” he said.

“Since then, I’ve seen quite a number of fields with ergot in it. I’ve talked to my colleagues in Iowa, and they’re seeing the same thing up there.”

The fungus is not only potentially fatal but can cause fertility problems and decreased appetite — a problem for the state’s cattle-breeding industry.

The cattle operations here feed young cattle up to a certain weight before shipping them to feedlots. Dairy cows also can suffer from loss of production, and horses and llamas also are susceptible.

Ergot compounds cause arteries to constrict, causing labored breathing, raising body temperatures and restricting blood supplies to extremities.

Ergot looks like small rodent droppings in the seed heads of plants, and it can be easily seen in cereal grains and common grasses, including fescue.

Early mowing of pastureland usually limits the growth of ergot, but this year, because of the wet weather, producers weren’t able to mow and bale their fields, allowing the fungus to settle into seed heads.

The toxins in ergot are chemically related to LSD and have been linked to deadly epidemics in the Middle Ages, when it was known as St. Anthony’s Fire.

Some historians believe the symptoms of ergotism in people — scratching, convulsions and hallucinations — were behind the “bewitchment” that triggered the Salem Witch Trials.

The poisoning in humans is usually linked to infected rye, which was grown in abundance in that region.

It commonly is seen in wheat, but the USDA requires inspections and testing that limit its presence.

Ergot @ x50 Magnification

By Georgina Gustin Lee Enterprises

Weather will Determine Cattle Industry’s Direction

COLUMBIA, MO - The Missouri cattle industry is a big deal, with 59,000 farms in the state raising cattle.

That’s why the University of Missouri’s 2013 Breimyer Seminar focused on the future of the state’s cattle industry.

“The question we’re talking about is where is the industry headed,” said Ron Plain, MU Extension agricultural economist and professor in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “Are we going to have continuing decline in cattle numbers or are we going to turn it around?” he said in a news release.

“The direction we’re headed has implications for not only rural Missouri but for all Missourians because a lot of tax base and a lot of jobs come with these cattle numbers.”

Historically, cattle have been the No. 1 product from Missouri farms, but in recent years cattle have slipped to No. 3 behind soybeans and corn.

“The U.S. cattle inventory is currently the smallest it has been since 1952. Cattle numbers increased for nearly 200 years but since 1975 have been decreasing.”

Plain says the biggest thing that will determine which direction the cattle industry goes is the weather.

“If we have drought like last year, cattle numbers will be forced down because the feed is not there,” Plain says.

“If we have a good summer, plenty of rain and lots of grass, then the economics kick in. It is profitable to raise cattle and we will get herd expansion.”

Factors other than the weather matter — such as consumer demand for beef and exports — but they don’t have quite the unpredictability of the next month’s weather, Plain says.

So far this year, the weather has been favorable for grass growth, and with a good forage supply, cattlemen are likely to retain more heifers and cows for breeding this fall.

However, it will take another year for the increased breeding herd to have an effect.

The turnaround won’t happen overnight.

“For the time being, we’re still going to go down,” Plain says.

“The number of bred cows and heifers this year is 2.1 percent lower than last year, meaning a smaller calf crop this year.”




Missouri Farmer Today