Tifton 85 Grass/Cyanide??

Bud Tierney · Jun 25, 2012

FWIW, KEYE TV in austin has a story on it's website (weareaustin.com) re' cattle dying, possibly from Tifton 85 grass producing cyanide...

Hay_Man · Jun 25, 2012

It has been proven that the death of the cattle was due to prussic acid poisoning.

sotxbill · Jun 25, 2012

Any time you fertilize and then have a bad drought, the grass will have prussic acid build up and it becomes poisonous. If the grass gets to grow a bit, the fertilizer chemicals will be ok and not harmful. Especially in heavily fertilized hay fields. It can happen in most any of the hay types.

TomH in PA · Jun 25, 2012

New York Times had this as a GMO crop (it's just a Bermuda grass hybrid) that suddenly mutated (in an established field, sure).

As sotxbill said, when conditions are right it happens. You need know when and when not to graze. Prussic Acid = Hydrogen Cyanide, same chemical.

Tx Jim · Jun 26, 2012

I was told Hybrid Bermuda grass doesn't contain enough sugars to form Cyanide gas/Prussic Acid poisoning. High fertilization of Bermuda grass in drought conditions can cause Nitrate poisoning which is totally different from Cyanide. Nitrate poisoning will never leave hay but Prussic Acid poisoning will dissipate/leave hay.

Tifton 85 Grass/Cyanide??

Bud Tierney

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Hay_Man

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sotxbill

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TomH in PA

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Tx Jim

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