Time to watch for Dallisgrass poisoning in cattle

Dallisgrass Now that the evenings are cooling down, it is the perfect time to get out and walk your property. Whether you live in town or have 500 acres; being outside, looking, feeling and kicking dirt is the best way to ensure everything is growing the way it should.

Along with watching for Fall Army Worms in your pastures, you also need to be on the watch for Dallisgrass with seedhead fungus. Dallisgrass poisoning (also known as Dallisgrass staggers) occurs several days after cattle ingest a significant amount of Dallisgrass seedheads infected with an "ergot-like" fungus. The seedheads typically are infected with the fungus in the fall, as the seedheads age. Rather than flat looking seeds on the heads, the infected heads have gray to black swellings that have a sticky sap material on them. Some say it looks like little popcorn. Usually not all the herd is affected, and it appears that it occurs when some animals develop a preference for the tips of the seedhead.

The affected animals show neurological symptoms, including trembling of the major muscles and the head, jerky uncoordinated movements, and they also are spooky and sometimes aggressive. The animals will startle and run, and often will fall in unusual positions. In bad cases the animals will go down, and may stay down for several days. Convulsions and death can occur in extreme cases. The symptoms are somewhat like grass tetany, and this is often misdiagnosed, but they don't show the sudden death characteristic of grass tetany, and don't immediately respond to treatment for grass tetany.

There is no treatment except to get the cattle off the affected grass, and provide them with high quality forage. If possible they should be put in a field with no ponds, steep slopes, etc. as they commonly stumble around and end up injuring or drowning themselves. Usually cattle can completely recover from the poisoning.

In the Fall we often have reports of Dallisgrass poisoning, and it seems to be getting more common with the increase in Dallisgrass in pastures. In many cases, there are only a few cattle in large pastures, so the Dallisgrass grew faster than the cattle could consume it. It also seems that in many cases the younger cows are affected, which suggests that cows may learn to avoid eating too much of the seedheads after getting too much.

If you have Dallisgrass in your pasture, you do not have to be in a panic. Dallisgrass is a very good quality warm season bunchgrass and provides moderate to good pasture. Many landowners have stopped fighting it and started using it more in their pasture systems. You just have to know how to manage it. Keeping the grass from developing mature seed heads in the Fall is the key to controlling the problem. Mowing the seedheads at about 12" before grazing should help prevent the problem. Hay with high amounts of Dallisgrass seedhead can also be a problem, be sure to feed plenty of good hay along with other hay if infected seedheads are present.

Remember the old saying, “The best fertilizer is the farmers shadow”. Get out, walk and look. Whether you are a homeowner or a landowner, catch your problems early while they are still small.