OCR Text |
Show Find Danger in Using Drought-Ruined Grass Drought brings a double loss to raisers of sorghum and Sudan grass, two of the principal forage crops, for the lack of water not only cuts the crop and stunts what little grows but makes that little highly dangerous to feed to live stock as a green feed. There is always prussic acid present pres-ent in these two grasses but seldom in sufficient quantity to be dangerous. danger-ous. When the grass is stunted by drought, however, the percentage of the acid present is increased about 250 per cent. It is present in sufficient suf-ficient quantity to kill grazing stock. When this grass is cut and cured In a silo, however, It again becomes usable after being properly cured. The grass when stored is wet down to aid fermentation, and during the fermentation the excess prussic acid is driven off. Rapid curing, however, how-ever, fails to bring this assurance of safety. The Department of Agriculture recommends to farmers In doubt as to the extent to which the acid has been removed to try It out on one or two animals, rather than on an entire herd, so that if the acid is present in lethal quantity an entire herd will not suffer as a result. |