DATE: August 2011
This newsletter was developed by
your team of Area Specialists in
the Northeast District. Our goal is
the dissemination of researchbased information.
VOLUME: 8
In This Issue
Blue-Green Algae
Stressed Corn Could Have Aflatoxin Issues
Protecting Yourself From Wildfire!
Forced to Sell Cows Due to Drought? There is Some Tax Help
Handling Heat
Northeast Area Staff:
918-686-7800
Blue-Green Algae
Josh Payne, Ph.D.
Specialists
Bill Burton
Ag Economics
What is a blue-green algae bloom?
LaDonna McCowan-Ferrier*, Ph.D.
Water Resource
Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are microscopic organisms that can be
found in all types of water. Being photosynthetic, they utilize sunlight to support
life. Cyanobacteria, one of the oldest organisms on earth, have been linked to
human and animal illnesses around the world. A blue-green algae bloom occurs
when algae that are normally present in the water grow rapidly. This process
may cause water that is normally clear to turn cloudy within days. The blooms
may range in color from blue to bright green, brown or red and may resemble
paint floating on the water. As algae in a bloom die, a foul odor is usually
produced.
Josh Payne*, Ph.D.
Animal Waste Management
Dave Sparks*, D.V.M.
Food-Animal Quality & Health
*Serves the NE and SE Districts
What causes blue-green algae?
Secretaries
Rachel Allen
Tracy Lieblang
Blue-green algae blooms can occur in warm, slow moving water that is
nutrient enriched. We often see blooms occur during hot, dry summertime
conditions. Nutrient sources may include commercial fertilizer runoff from both
urban and agricultural settings, manure runoff and failing or leaky septic tanks.
Are there human and animal health concerns?
The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension
Service does not discriminate because
of race, color, national origin, religion,
gender, age, disability, or status as a
Vietnam-era veteran, and is an Equal
Opportunity Employer
Some cyanobacteria can produce toxins that can be harmful to humans
and animals. Swallowing low doses can cause gastroenteritis (vomiting and
diarrhea) while higher doses may affect the nervous system and liver and even
cause sudden death in animals. The wind can actually blow the algae bloom to
one side of the water source, thus concentrating it. Dead animals may be
observed near these concentrated areas. Human topical exposure may cause rash,
hives or skin blisters. Children are considered a higher risk for illness than
adults.
USDA  OSU  COUNTIES COOPERATING
What are some health and safety tips for
humans and animals?
- Do not swim or water ski in areas where algal
blooms are present. If you are exposed to a
bloom, immediately rinse off with clean water.
- Do not let your pets or livestock graze near,
drink or swim in water where you see blue
green-algae blooms on the surface. If your pet
does swim in a bloom, immediately rinse them
off so that they don’t lick the algae from their
fur.
- Seek medical attention if you think that you or
your pet have ingested high doses of toxins.
Stressed Corn Could Have
Aflatoxin Issues
Greg Highfill, NW Area Livestock Specialist
How can I reduce the occurrence of bluegreen algae blooms?
The stressful growing conditions of the
2011 corn crop in northeast Oklahoma has
created the potential for possible aflatoxin
contamination. Livestock owners are eager to
utilize this local resource, but have heard the
“Aflatoxin Caution”.
Most of the corn
harvested locally will be fine to feed and does
offer savings in feed cost. However, it is just
good business to obtain some assurance as to
the quality of product at purchase.
By reducing nutrient loading to local
lakes, streams and ponds, we can help reduce
the occurrence of algal blooms. Urban
homeowners and rural landowners should
conduct annual soil tests before applying
fertilizer to their yards or fields. Soil tests will
determine plant nutrient needs and prevent
over-application of nutrients. Leaky or failing
septic
systems
should
be
upgraded.
Maintaining a buffer of natural vegetation
around ponds and lakes filters nutrients in
runoff. For more information on how you can
reduce nutrient inputs to your watershed or to
submit soil samples for testing, visit your local
County Extension Office.
Aflatoxin is usually a problem in years
with extremely high‐temperatures, particularly
when coupled with water deficiency and insect
damage. Temperatures ranging from 85 to 100
degrees F and a relative humidity of 85 percent
are optimum for Aspergillus flavus growth and
aflatoxin production. On corn, in the field,
Aspergillus flavus is
evident
as
a
greenish‐yellow to
yellowish‐brown,
felt‐like or powdery
mold growth on or
between the corn
kernels.
The FDA guidelines for acceptable
aflatoxin levels in corn are based on the
intended feed use. Action levels for aflatoxin
2
in corn are shown in the following table.
Because human food has a zero tolerance level
for aflatoxin, including milk, final rations for
lactating dairy cattle should have no detectable
aflatoxin present.
Corn Action
Levels
20 ppb or less
100 ppb or less
200 ppb or less
300 ppb or less
the following paragraphs, we will try to explore
a few options to help us try and protect our
precious resources, and some suggestions on
where to go for help if we do lose our forage to
wildfire.
If you have farm and ranch insurance
policies, you may want to review the coverage
to make sure that you are in compliance with
the policy restrictions. Some policies state the
number of hay bales allowed per stack and the
distance required between stacks. By knowing
what your policy covers and any restrictions
placed on that coverage, you may be able to
save yourself some grief if a wildfire does cross
your property.
Species
Human food, dairy and
immature animals
Breeding cattle,
breeding swine and
mature poultry
Finishing swine greater
than 100 lbs in weight
Finishing beef cattle
You may want to consider protecting
the stored hay you have now. One way to do
that is to move it to storage that takes it out of
harms way. Moving it to the center of a wheat
field or storing it on a gravel or dirt pad will go
a long way in protecting it from grass fires.
You could also disk strips around the stored
hay. In fire school we were taught to make a
fire break 1.5 times the height of the tallest
close fuel. A 10 to 20 foot wide disk strip all
the way around the hay stack should protect it
from all but the most wind blown wildfires.
The disk strip needs to be mineral soil in order
to stop a fire. Any grass left on top after disking
can carry a fire across the strip. Be aware that
fire brands from cedars, or tall grass can be
blown for quite some distance during extremely
high winds and can ignite even those hay stacks
protected by disk strips. Disk strips will
however give you a fighting chance at saving
your hay stacks, should fire break out. One
caution, if it does ever start raining, it may be
difficult to get through the mud that results
from bare soil, to retrieve the hay for feeding.
Grain companies cannot sell corn with
over 20 ppb aflatoxin present. The main effect
of aflatoxin consumption is the resulting liver
damage. On rare occasions, livestock can die
from ingesting aflatoxin-contaminated feed.
Most commonly, aflatoxin reduces the feed
efficiency and reproductive rate of livestock.
Protecting Yourself From Wildfire!
C.K Rice, S.E District Area Agronomist
The local drought, high winds and
warm, low humidity days have been a recipe
for disaster to many of our friends and
neighbors. It doesn’t take much of a spark to
start a fire that can run for miles. The drought
already has us short of forage and any loss of
pasture and hay can become a severe burden. In
If you have a cattle sprayer or pesticide
sprayer with a hand wand, rinse them out
thoroughly and fill with water. Leave them
attached to the tractor ready for use in case of
3
emergency. If you become aware of a wildfire
headed your way, you can use this equipment
to wet down your hay pile to reduce the risk of
fire brands landing on the haystack and burning
up your stored hay. Unless you are a trained
firefighter, you should not try to fight the
oncoming fire yourself; your life is worth more
than any stack of hay. Once you have wet down
the haystack, get yourself and your equipment
to a safe area.
building, the better chance fire fighters will
have of saving the structure.
Contact your local county extension
educator for more information about protecting
yourself from wildfire. Hopefully, in the not to
distant future, the weather will change to a
wetter pattern, relieving the probability of
wildfire in your local area.
Disk strips can also help protect
pastures that border highways and county
roads. There are many ways a wildfire can get
started, but discarded cigarettes from passing
vehicles, are one of the prime causes. If you
can protect your pastures along roadways, you
may be able to reduce the chances of wildfire
burning off your whole place. Again, these
strips cannot protect you from fire brands
blown long distances on high winds, but they
may save your pasture from small fires that
start along a roadway. Any strips that are
disked down a slope should be planted with
ryegrass, wheat, or rye in the fall to reduce the
amount of erosion on that slope once spring
rains do come.
Forced to Sell Cows Due to Drought?
There is Some Tax Help
Bill Burton
Everyone knows that it’s very hot and
very dry right now and most have heard a
number of horror stories about its effect on
cattle operations in the state. If ranchers are
forced to sell more cows than normal due to
these conditions, they can take advantage of a
special tax rule. There are two separate tax
rules that can be utilized; electing to postpone
the gain by purchasing replacement animals or
electing to defer the income to future tax years.
Protecting houses and out-buildings
with disk strips is another effective way of
reducing risk. Get far enough away from the
building so that firefighters have enough room
to move equipment around inside the strip. This
will give them the opportunity to fight any spot
fires that may be blown inside the safety zone
without fear of getting stuck.
Watering your lawn on a weekly basis
will go a long way to slowing down a wildfire
in short grass; the green grass and wet organic
matter at the soil surface will help rob energy
from the fire and slow down its forward
progress. Remove leaves, high grass and
bushes from around the foundations of the
buildings. The less fuel there is close to the
Election to Postpone Gain by Purchasing
Replacement Animals:
Any livestock (other than poultry) that
are held for draft, breeding, or dairy purposes
that are sold because of a weather related
condition can elect to purchase replacement
livestock within two years of the end of the
4
current tax year. The new livestock must be
used for the same purpose as the livestock sold,
so it’s not possible to replace a dairy cow with
a beef cow.
is
available
on-line
at:
http://osufacts.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Ge
t/Document-3188/AGEC-788web11.pdf
This election applies only to the number
of animals that exceed the operation’s normal
culling rates. The basis in the new animals is
the basis of the animals sold, plus the purchase
price of the new animals less the sale value of
those culled.
Handling Heat
For example if a rancher is forced to
sell 35 cows this year due to the lack of
moisture and extreme heat when normally only
15 head would have been culled, they could
postpone reporting the gain on 20 head and
replace them in 2012 or 2013.
Dave Sparks, DVM
The widespread use of air-conditioning
has made life much better for people, but little
has changed for our livestock. Summer is still
a high stress time and your livestock can have
serious issues when the thermometer climbs.
Males are more affected be extreme heat than
females; fat animals more than thin animals;
and older animals more than young. Animals
with any compromise of the immune or
respiratory systems are at serious risk. Some
advance planning and observation of your
livestock can make a big difference in their
comfort and in your profits.
Election to Defer Income to Subsequent Tax
Year:
There are a few additional requirements
that must be met before ranchers can take
advantage of this election; first there must be a
declared disaster area and secondly the animals
in question must come from that area. If this is
the case then a rancher can elect to postpone
reporting the income from the sale until 2012.
This election applies not just to breeding
livestock but to all livestock.
Unlike horses and humans, cattle,
sheep, goats, and pigs do not sweat, at least not
in amounts sufficient to be beneficial for body
cooling. They maintain their body temperature
at or near a constant, normal, level by panting.
This moves air across the highly vascular and
moist mucous membranes of the mouth,
tongue, and nasal passages, thus cooling the
blood passing through these tissues much like
the water in an engine is cooled as it passes
through the radiator. For this to occur they
need a lower environmental humidity and
adequate water for evaporation on the surface
of the membranes. If livestock are not able to
maintain their normal body temperature they
start to show signs of reproductive compromise
first, followed by heat exhaustion at about 105
Again this only applies to the additional
animals sold above the ranches normal sales.
For example if a ranch normally sells 300
calves but due to the weather is forced to sell
500 head then they could elect to postpone
reporting the gain on the additional 200 head
sold in 2011 until 2012.
Any rancher that feels that this is
something they would want to consider doing
needs to consult with their tax preparer about
making sure they are eligible. An OSU
Extension Fact Sheet, Tax Consequences of
Weather Related Sale of Livestock, AGEC-788
5
F, and cell breakdown and death at about 107
F.
temperature rises as much as 2 degrees above
optimum. This can be significant because if
extremely hot weather causes the death or
deformation of sperm in the male system it can
take as long as 6 weeks for new cells to be
formed and mature. This can result in a
temporary sterility. Research has shown that in
females, high body temperatures can result in
lowered conception rates and embryonic death.
Excessive heat affects embryo survival and
fetal development most markedly during the
first 21 to 30 days after breeding.
In extremely hot weather it is normal
for body temperatures to rise moderately above
normal during the heat of the day and to cool
off at night when environmental temperatures
are less. It takes several hours, however for
this to occur. Although air temperatures often
decline in the late afternoon or evening the
animal’s body temperature may not fully
recover its normal level until 2 or 3 o’clock in
the morning after several hours of cooler
temperatures. Because of this, taking the
temperature to determine if an animal is sick is
best done early in the morning to get a true
indication. If you must “work” or handle
livestock during hot weather, do it as early as
possible in the morning and be finished before
their body temperature starts to rise. The
digestion of grain generates a lot of heat so in
hot weather it is best not to feed high levels of
grain and to feed grain early in the morning.
Charles Dudley Warner, a friend of
Mark Twain, is famous for saying “Everyone
complains about the weather, but no one does
anything about it.” So what can we do? The
simplest answer is shade and the simplest shade
is the shade tree. Closed in spaces are not very
helpful because they restrict air movement. If
you use a barn for shade, utilize a breezeway or
fans. If natural shade is not available a little
creativity and simple materials can provide
permanent or temporary shade.
On an
extremely hot day a shade structure can cause a
drop of 12 to 15 degrees F in environmental
temperature. The accompanying photos were
taken at the same time, one in the sun and one
under a temporary shade. Sprinklers and
misters are often used for cooling. Wetting the
ground, can help to reduce temperature by
evaporative cooling and also helps to keep dust
irritation down.
In hot weather the first thing to suffer in
your herd is reproductive efficiency.
Reproductive problems can range from poor
fertility to no fertility. In some males high core
body temperature causes suppression of libido,
but that is only the beginning of the problems.
In male mammals the testicles cannot produce
or maintain sperm cells at body temperature.
The scrotum is designed to keep the testicles
several degrees cooler than the body’s core
temperature by means of special muscles that
lower the testicles away from the body as air
temperature rises and pull them back closer as
air temperature decreases.
Also, the
pampiniform plexus is a heat exchange unit that
cools the blood entering the testicles. When
these mechanisms are overcome by the
environmental temperature problems occur.
Sperm cell formation, or spermatogenesis,
starts to decrease when the testicular
temperature rises as little as 1/2 degree and
sperm cells start to die if the testicular
6
evening can limit health problems and help
ensure good reproduction rates in your herd.
Dates to Remember
July 28-30 – Oklahoma Cattlemen’s
Association Convention, Reed Convention
Center, Midwest City, OK
A good rule of thumb for drinking water
is if you wouldn’t drink it and enjoy it, neither
will your livestock! In cool temperatures
mature livestock drink about 10% of their body
weight per day in water. This is about 1.25
gallon per day for each 100 lbs of body weight.
In summer this doubles or even triples in order
to meet body cooling requirements. Cleaning
water tanks and supplying fresh water becomes
even more critical. The question is not “does
my animal drink”, but “does my animal drink
enough?”
Summertime temperatures also
necessitate more frequent tank cleaning
because as temperature rises, bacteria and algae
grow much faster. Fencing animals out of
ponds and providing drinking access only
keeps the water clean. Ponds surrounded by
vegetation stay significantly cooler than those
surrounded by bare ground and this enhances
water consumption. Young animals have even
more critical requirements. They drink smaller
amounts at a time, have a higher metabolic rate,
and are more likely to be finicky drinkers.
August 19 – Wheatland Stocker Conference,
Enid, OK
Average Fertilizer Prices
in the NE District
July 21, 2011
Fertilizer
Urea (46-0-0)
DAP (18-46-0)
Potash (0-0-60)
Excessive heat can affect your livestock
and your profits in several ways. Hot animals
have poor appetite and growing animals that
don’t eat don’t grow. Females that are trying to
pick up body condition prior to breeding season
or calving need to eat to capacity as well.
While air conditioning is not practical,
adequate shade, plenty of clean water, and a
moratorium on handling in the afternoon and
Average
$587
$674
$616
*Average of 4 dealers
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Range
$555 - $640
$630 - $707
$595 - $650
Bill Burton
Area Economist
Josh Payne, Ph.D.
Area Animal Waste Management Specialist
Dave Sparks, D.V.M.
Area Food-Animal Quality & Health Specialist
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Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Robert E.
Whitson, Director of Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma. This publication is printed and issued
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has been prepared and distributed at a cost of $2.40 for 10 copies. 0711
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