It's been quite a few years since I've heard of an ergot problem, but it always seems to be a very serious wreck. Ergot is a fungus that grows on rye, triticale, wheat, barley, and different species of grass such as perennial ryegrass and tall fescue. Ergot appears as small black or purple bodies on the seed head of plants. It can be about the size of the grain kernel or seed itself. Unfortunately yield of fields infected with ergot are not decreased significantly unless the field is heavily infested. Eyeballing the grass or grain is the usual means of detection. The ergot is spread from plant to plant by wind, insects, and rain splash. Wild grasses that grow nearby may contaminate 'clean' grain. It causes health problems for all farm livestock and even humans.

Cool, damp, spring and summer weather seems to favor the development of ergot. The ergot forms spores that may be dropped to the soil so that next year's crop may also be infected. However the spores do not seem to survive more than one year. No-till farming offers the spore a good chance for survival, so crop rotation or planting at least 2 inches deep may be necessary to reduce the chance of infection.

Reports of ergot poisoning in humans go back many years. The ergot toxins are very similar to LSD. (the psychedelic drug of the 70's). It is believed that the Witch Trials in Salem were due to ergot-contaminated rye flour that caused abnormal behavior. I wonder what the abnormal behavior in our Salem is caused by these days?

The first symptoms seen are pain and swelling in the hind legs. This is caused by constriction of the blood vessels; if it continues the tissue may die due to lack of blood. Tails, hooves, ears, and teats have been lost due to gangrene. Ergot poisoning can also cause abortion in cattle.

In cattle, swine, sheep, and horses there can be several kinds of ergot poisoning. One would be when the animals eat a small amount of ergot toxin over a long period of time. This might be hay, grain, or screening source fed through the winter. Another kind would be a very heavily contaminated feed consumed during a single meal. If a large amount is consumed at once, the animal often goes into convulsions. There are several different ergot toxins, so acute symptoms may include increased body temperature, no milk, and prolonged pregnancy. The symptoms aren't specific enough that diagnosis can be made easily. Some symptoms are contradictory: in one situation the ergot toxin may cause abortion, while in another, it may cause prolonged pregnancy. The suspect feed is usually sent to a lab that specializes in testing of fungus toxins. Oregon State University has that capacity in their Vet Diagnostic Lab. The University of Missouri offers the widest range of fungus testing for University labs in the U.S.

Grain and grass seed screenings are not normally tested for ergot when they are received at feedmills unless fieldman, grower, or nutritionist is specifically concerned about ergot. This is because the incidence is low in the Pacific Northwest.

Dr. Greg Russell, of Illinois, reported on a case in The Bovine Veterinarian involving ergot toxicity. This was a small dairy that fed their dry cows ryegrass hay for about 2 months. When the cows came into production, they had very little milk, there were foot problems as well as displaced abomasums (an abnormal position of the 4th stomach). Several cows in this group died. When the forage was tested, high levels of ergot toxins were identified in the seed heads of the hay.

In one instance I recommended that grass seed screenings be tested for endophyte before feeding began, but not ergot, because we planned to feed calves primarily grass seed screenings with a very small amount of long hay. Also, we had no idea whether the screenings were from a turf or forage variety of grass seed. This turned out to be quite interesting. There was a delay in getting the results back from the lab. The owner began feeding the screenings because the calves were there and he had nothing else to feed. When we got the results back, the test indicated that they were quite high in that toxin and should have been causing problems. The owner decided to risk it for the rest of the winter (or about another 90 days) since everything looked normal so far. He wound up feeding the same mix to some cows, and neither group ever showed a symptom of toxicity.

There was a problem in Harney county several winters ago where thin cows were fed grass seed straw that was infected with endophyte. The winter was long and cold, and my understanding is that the combination of poor body condition, cold weather, and endophyte toxins were responsible for the death of over 600 head.

Unfortunately we don't seem to identify ergot or endophytes because they don't give off a 'musty' odor. Black or dark purple 'pieces' in your grain, straw, or hay should be identified as early as possible. In most instances removing the offending feed, or blending it with 'clean' feed will permit the animals to recover without treatment. However, when symptoms are seen such as sore feet, or the other symptoms mentioned earlier, the animals might not fully recover, and certainly wouldn't be my choice for the breeding herd.

Here's a completely unrelated tidbit. Chondroitin Sulfate is a popular remedy for joint pain used by many of us. It is also fed to horses for this same purpose. At present it is not an approved feed ingredient for livestock. It is ok for humans (I guess we're supposed to know better). Chondroitin is extracted from the tissue of cattle, pork, poultry, and sharks. A mill making feed or supplement for many different species needs to identify the source of the chondroitin to make sure it doesn't violate the law by adding chondroitin from cattle to any ruminant animal feed, such as sheep, goat, cattle, or llama. It is safest to have no chondroitin in the mill, unless the mill makes nothing other than horse feed or supplement. Bottles of joint compounds do not show the source of chondroitin for you or me. They just show the potency (ie. 1200 mg/capsule). Let's hope our friendly vegans have not been using chondroitin, because if they have it's certainly been poisoning them!!

Michael J. Mehren, Ph.D. is a livestock nutritionist anticipating a huge windfall from his development of the Hard Water Diet.

Copies of Mike Mehren's book 'Common Cents Livestock Feeding' are still available at $12.95 ea. Postpaid from Haywire Publ. Co., 32839 E Loop Rd Hermiston, OR 97838 Email: mehren@eoni.com

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