36 Our Advertisers Appreciate Your Business Better Farming | November/December 2024 Ag Insights SALVAGING CROPS FOR FEED This can help you still get use out of a crop, despite the challenges. By Adriane Good With hot, dry weather persisting through early fall, some producers have looked to salvage crops for feed instead of grain. This is an excellent opportunity to get value from your crop and provide more feed options to livestock producers. Salvage crops can be a great feed source for livestock; however, there are a few things to keep in mind when salvaging crops. Check restrictions Some pesticides, like lambda-cyhalothrin, are not approved for livestock consumption. If feeding and grazing restrictions exist, ensure the crop is fed in the manner instructed on the label, or not fed at all. If the label of the chemical you applied does not include grazing or feeding restrictions, contact your local crop extension specialist for more information on chemical restrictions. Feed test Nutrient values are important to determine how much of an animal’s nutrition can be provided by the salvage crop. Book values are available to provide an estimation of the nutrient value of a crop, but the value can be highly variable so feed tests are important. Key nutrients to look for are crude protein, total digestible nutrients or net energy values, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and mineral content. Brassicas, like canola, can have high levels of sulphur, so check the feed test for those levels. Sulphur levels can be further exacerbated if the water source for the livestock is high in sulphates, making water testing imperative if feeding these crops. Test for nitrates Nitrates are incredibly important to watch for in stressed plants, whether that stress is hail, drought, frost, or otherwise. Plants that are well-known to be nitrate accumulators are cereals and brassicas, especially those fertilized for grain production. Nitrate toxicity in ruminants can show up as watery eyes, abortions, laboured breathing, muscle tremors, and death. Including a nitrate test on these crops will help you determine if nitrates will be a problem and allow you to blend the feed to a level that will reduce the risk of toxicity. Watch for diseases Depending on your growing conditions, ergot bodies may be present in salvaged feed. Ergot bodies are typically found in cereal and grass crops under prolonged wet soil conditions and cool weather. These conditions favour the development of ergot bodies in crops as they extend the flowering period, which is when crops are susceptible to infection. Small amounts of ergot can be toxic; watch for ergot toxicity symptoms, including lameness, abortions, reduced productivity, loss of hooves, portions of the tail or ears, and, in extreme cases, death. If your crop has visible mould, or was put up with excess moisture, check it for mycotoxins with a feed test. Fusarium and other fungi can cause health issues for livestock, like ergot toxicity, with symptoms ranging from feed refusal to death. Getting a mycotoxin and/or ergot test on these feeds will allow producers to mitigate the risk from these toxins. Other anti-nutritional factors Some crops naturally contain substances that can negatively affect livestock. If flax freezes, it can contain prussic acid, which can cause laboured breathing, excessive salivation, convulsions and death. Some compounds in buckwheat forage can cause photosensitivity in Salvaged canola can be a great feed source. Adriane Good photo
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