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Ergot Problems

Learn the signs of ergot and make management changes
before it is too late.

Ergot is a fungus that grows on certain grasses and grain plants when moisture conditions are just right. Ergot becomes a problem mainly after a wet season, rarely during dry conditions. The fungus replaces the seedhead with a dark brown/black mass and produces toxic alkaloids. One or more of the kernels in the seedhead are replaced with this dark, hard “ergot body.”

Various types of alkaloids in ergot affect cattle in different ways. Effects on the nervous system result in muscle spasms in the hind legs, incoordination, loss of balance and sometimes, temporary paralysis. More commonly, the toxic alkaloids impair blood circulation to the extremities due to constricting of blood vessels, which can result in loss of ears, tail or feet.

Mild cases of ergot poisoning may show up as poor production (lower weight gain, drop in milk production, inability to handle hot or cold weather, reproductive problems, or abortion). Often the signs of ergot poisoning are similar to those of fescue toxicosis.

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Barry Yaremcio, beef and forage specialist for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, says the virulence of ergot fungus alkaloids vary depending on where they originated.

Ergot is most common in grains, but can also infect wheatgrass, brome, wild rye and a number of other wild grasses. A fungus that grows mainly on rye produces a condition called ryegrass staggers. Another type of ergot infects barley, creating another class of toxins.

Beef and forage specialist Barry Yaremcio, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, says ergot and alkaloids produced by the fungi vary around the world. There are also some major differences, even in North America.

“A lot of research is being done right now in Saskatchewan on ergot, looking at how it develops and how long it takes for that ergot body to start putting alkaloids into the seed. Feeding trials are being done at the University of Saskatchewan to determine the level that you’d start to see reduced performance in the animals due to ergot contamination of feeds,” says Yaremcio.

“They have been testing for about two years now, looking at the different alkaloids and finding that some strains in western Canada are two to four times more virulent and harmful than what is commonly seen in Texas, Oklahoma and Florida. The old rules of thumb for safety levels (one kernel in 1,000, or about 10 ergot bodies per liter of grain) are invalid in these cases,” he says.

Yaremcio says often people don’t recognize they have an ergot problem until they see tail issues in cattle and notice hooves sloughing off. Unfortunately, these are some of the last symptoms to show up before the animal dies.

“We’ve now found that if you’ve got a high level of alkaloids from ergot in a pellet or grain feed, one of the first symptoms you’ll see — two or three days after the feed is supplied to the animals — is that they will back off the feed. They may reduce their intake of that feed by 60% to 70%. This is your warning sign,” he explains.

“After that, if you don’t take those animals off that particular feed, you will see some of them develop diseases that we normally associate with stress. You’ll see things like IBR, shipping fever, pneumonia and other respiratory problems.”

Some ranchers have lost cows due to ergot contamination in pellets.

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Editor’s Note: Heather Smith Thomas is a freelance writer and a cattlewoman from Salmon, Idaho.


 



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