Scary stuff

[Smiles Jr.]

I'm wondering how and why the grass suddenly, after 15 years, started producing cyanide. Cyanide is an unstable organic compound produced mainly in seeds. The largest natural source of cyanide is fireweed, and the spike in ground cyanide is amazing at seed time. Yet bears and deer graze on it without harm. It is quickly destroyed by sunlight and oxygen. In mines it is destroyed by hydrogen peroxide.

I wonder if there could be a group of environmental activist weirdos operating in the area the cows are in?

 

[The Mama Chicken]

That story is being blown out of proportion by media hype.
This is an old problem and every experienced rancher knows all about it. The usualy call it prusic acid poisoning. It's usually brought on by careless overaplication of high nitrogen chemical fertilizers which forces more new growth than the grass would normally produce. Experienced ranchers are suspicious of grass that looks too lush and get it tested before turning livestock into it. Any county ag station can perform the simple test.

That makes sense. I don't know if the farmer over fertilized, but we had a really early spring, really high rainfall totals, and a lot of the grass grew very lush, very fast this year here in central Texas. I knew that some grasses could produce cyanide if stressed, but I didn't realize that super quick growth was a type of stress (mostly because I never thought about it.) Thanks Hoodat.

 

[hoodat]

It's super fast growth right after the stress that does the damage. The grass was stressed by last years drought and then the rains came and the grass grew so quickly that the cyanide was still present and migrated to the new growth. The grass probably produces cyanide when stressed as a defense against being eaten while it is too weak to recover.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Best I can tell Tifton 85 grass is not genetically modified. The mainstream media wouldn't know the difference between GMO and an atomic bomb.

https://www.soils.org/publications/cs/abstracts/41/1/5
http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/tifton85.htm

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Hoodat - just keep that tin foil hat on and we'll all be safe. BTW how are you feeling these days? I'm so happy to hear your voice again.

 

[hoodat]

I feel pretty good most days. I'd say I'm back to around 75% of the strength I had. I'm working on getting back the rest.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Hoodat, you're psychic! And Smiles is also correct, according to this:

http://grist.org/news/no-genetically-modified-grass-isnt-killing-cows-with-cyanide/

 

[ducks4you]

THAT's why it's good to know other gardeners. I know that apple seeds contain small amounts of arsenic, so this doesn't surprise me. STILL, I'm on the alert for GMO's and poisoning.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

I'm on the alert for GMO's and poisoning.

Oh yeah, you're absolutely correct. We all need to be very diligent in our quest for GMO knowledge. Knowledge is our most reliable safety mechanism as chemists, commercial vendors and commercial growers don't seem to care about anything but the bottom line.