Nitrate poisonng in drought stricken hay?

Tx Jim · Jul 21, 2012

Does the time of day(AM vs PM) of cutting of crops prone to nitrate poisoning affect the chances of hay having nitrate poisoning??? I was told AM is much safer than PM.Thanks,Jim

BigMarv1085 · Jul 21, 2012

I don't think it would matter. Saw some bermuda grass cut once and the guy had put on chicken manure before it rained. He cut it 4 weeks later after no rain. Sold it to a local dairy and it killed over 40 cows over night.

tjdub · Jul 21, 2012

I'm not sure it applies to all nitrate accumulating grasses, but all of the university articles I've ever read about sudangrass/sudex say to cut it in the evening to help avoid nitrate poisoning. Nitrate accumulates in the stems overnight and is used for growth in the day so the lowest concentration is right at sundown. Of course, that logic only works if it's actually getting enough moisture to ACTUALLY GROW during the day which is the question in the drought. The safer bet is to cut it off high (> 6" from the ground). That way most of the nitrates are left in the field. Also, making balage/silage out of it will help reduce the nitrate content to some extent.

Nitrate poisonng in drought stricken hay?

Tx Jim

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BigMarv1085

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tjdub

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