University of Missouri Extension specialists urge producers to closely watch cattle grazing pastures with Johnson grass and other sorghum species.
Cattle producers in several drought-stressed parts of Missouri have recently reported cattle deaths from suspected prussic acid or hydrocyanic acid (cyanide) poisoning, says Tim Evans, an MU Extension state specialist in animal health and veterinary toxicology.
Prussic acid poisoning results when cattle eat cyanide-producing compounds in immature leaves of sorghum grasses or leaves of cherry and related species of fruit trees. This happens most…
