{"id":121,"date":"2016-02-01T16:49:46","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T21:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/oconeebanksag\/?p=121"},"modified":"2016-02-01T16:50:56","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T21:50:56","slug":"grass-tetany-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/2016\/02\/grass-tetany-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"Grass Tetany Warning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">All,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">With the warm period of weather, in addition to other risk factors, cattle producers need to be aware of the potential for grass tetany.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">Regards,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">Lawton Stewart<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #ff0000\">UGA Extension Beef Specialist<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019m putting out High-Mag mineral, but cows are still going down?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Deidre Harmon, PhD Student, The University of Georgia.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Lawton Stewart, Extension Beef Specialist, The University of Georgia.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is grass tetany and why is magnesium important? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Grass tetany, also known as grass staggers, magnesium (Mg) tetany, hypomagnesemia, and wheat pasture poisoning, is a nutritional disorder caused by either 1) an inadequate amount of dietary Mg, or, 2) other mineral related factor that is preventing (antagonizing) dietary Mg from being properly absorbed or utilized.\u00a0 Magnesium is considered a macro mineral and is needed in beef cattle diets to insure proper growth, reproduction, and metabolic function.\u00a0 When dietary Mg is low or utilization is inhibited, neuromuscular function becomes impaired and leads to the clinical symptoms of staggering, muscle twitching, convulsions, and in severe cases, can lead to death.\u00a0 This disorder is most common during cool, cloudy, and rainy weather, and frequently occurs when cool weather is followed by a warm period.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is magnesium an issue during this time of year?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Mg is essential, especially during lactation<\/em>.\u00a0 Spring calving cows are highly susceptible to grass tetany because they reach peak lactation (require increased amounts of Mg) during the same time as the spring green.\u00a0 This onset of abundant lush forage is associated with decreased amounts of forage Mg.\u00a0 Older cows are more susceptible because they cannot mobilize Mg from reserves in the bone as quickly as younger cows.<\/li>\n<li><em>High potassium (K)<\/em> content is also associated with lush, growing forages.\u00a0 Although K is essential, in large amounts, it can work as an antagonist to reduce Mg uptake from the soil and Mg absorption in the rumen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>I\u2019m putting out High-Mag mineral, but I am still losing cows?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Not consuming enough<\/em>.\u00a0 There may be a palatability issue, especially when Mg is increased in the mineral.\u00a0 However, cows typically do not voluntarily consume as much mineral this time of year.<\/li>\n<li><em>High-Mg mineral if fed year-round.<\/em> \u00a0Sometimes, the strategy is to put high-Mg mineral out all year as an \u201cinsurance policy\u201d.\u00a0 High-Mg mineral is only needed during the short period of time that grass tetany may occur.\u00a0 Feeding the miner year-round may condition cattle to not consume enough during the time they really need it.<\/li>\n<li><em>Not enough salt<\/em>.\u00a0 Magnesium transport across the rumen wall can be reduced if 1) there is not enough salt in the diet, and, 2) if there is too much K in the diet.\u00a0 Collectively, too much K and too little salt can cause grass tetany, even if Mg intake is adequate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What can I do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Know exactly what cattle are consuming<\/em>.\u00a0 Do the math based on how much mineral you\u2019re putting out, how many cows, and how fast it is being consumed.\u00a0 Calculate the mineral on an oz\/hd\/d basis and determine whether or not their consumption meets requirements.\u00a0 Table 1 illustrates calculated consumption based on different feeding rates and herd sizes.<\/li>\n<li><em>Increase intake<\/em> (if need be) by mixing with feed and\/or salt.\u00a0 Again, do the math to ensure the correct intake.\u00a0 <strong>OVER CONSUMPTION WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEM.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><em>Add salt.<\/em> In addition to increasing the mineral intake, additional salt will ensure that the sodium requirement is being met and thus, help to maximize absorption of Mg.\u00a0 <strong>DO NOT DO THIS IN PLACE OF HIGH MAG<\/strong>, rather in addition to.\u00a0 This can be as simple as putting out plain white salt blocks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Grass tetany is preventable, but can cause tremendous economic repercussions when it happens.\u00a0 Following the guidelines above, will help prevent this issue in the herd.\u00a0 For more information and\/or help implementing some of these strategies, contact your local Extension office (1-800-ASK-UGA-1)<\/p>\n<p>Table 1. Calculated weekly consumption amounts for different feeding rates and herd sizes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 281px\" width=\"582\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><\/td>\n<td colspan=\"3\" width=\"295\"><strong>Feeding rate (hd\/d)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>Herd Size<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>2 oz<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>3 oz<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>4 oz<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><\/td>\n<td colspan=\"3\" width=\"295\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-lbs\/week&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>25<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">22<\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">33<\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">44<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>50<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">44<\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">66<\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">88<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>75<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">66<\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">98<\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">131<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>100<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">88<\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">131<\/td>\n<td width=\"98\">175<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All, With the warm period of weather, in addition to other risk factors, cattle producers need to be aware of the potential for grass tetany.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Regards, Lawton Stewart UGA Extension Beef Specialist I\u2019m putting out High-Mag mineral, but cows are still going down? Deidre Harmon, PhD Student, The University of Georgia. Lawton Stewart, Extension Beef [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[27,22,28],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cattle","tag-beef","tag-cattle","tag-grass-tetany"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/plowpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}