*WARNING* - Toxic Ergot Fungus on grass seed heads in paddocks this year

[PurBee]

Ours wasn't cut till August because our farmer missed the good weather in early July and then it was so wet! But our grass also came through really late so it was still pretty green when cut, which hopefully means it will be okay. I'm going to go and inspect the bales I bought carefully either way! Luckily I bought them straight off the field so they were cheap, just in case I do end up having to dump them.

Yeah, the alarmingly cold may meant my grass was so slow to grow too, so end of june cut the yield was lower than last year. I would have let it grow more if my climate was more hay-making friendly, so when i saw a week of full sun forecast, i jumped on it anyway.
Fingers crossed your hay is good ?

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Great thread thanks PurBee. If legals go as planned this week I will finally own my own fields and the learning curve will be steep! No change of ergot though because they have been grazed to the ground ?

A bit of rain will cause a September flush, so take care.
Hope all goes as planned x

 

[PurBee]

Great thread thanks PurBee. If legals go as planned this week I will finally own my own fields and the learning curve will be steep! No change of ergot though because they have been grazed to the ground ?

exciting plans ahead for you! Its lovely to own land and observe the variety of plants and wildlife present. There’s loads of beneficial plants for horses, most are really….for variety. The toxic stuff to watch is really just a handful….rather than a book load!
Im glad ergot isnt an issue on your land! Horses are amazing how low they can graze, theyre very similar to sheep in a way. Ive watched mine nibble baby emerging clover on pathways, theyre so skilled with those big squishy velvety lips! ?

 

[Landcruiser]

I’m in Wiltshire. I just found ergot in my winter paddock

 

[PurBee]

I’m in Wiltshire. I just found ergot in my winter paddock

If you can get the seedheads topped with a mulching mower, like a flail mower, the pieces will drop through the growing grass and rot away. Rain helps to wash down mulched clippings to the base of long grass. There’s no need to mow the whole lot down to 1 inch. The leaves of your grass is not affected.

we still have roughly 6-8 weeks of growth conditions, before cooler temps slows the grass growth down.

ETA: if your grass leaves are very long and falling over then you want to top it to around 6-9 inches - so you have grass leaves standing erect - then the mulched clippings can fall between erect grass leaf growing stems, rot away, while the grass continues growing through autumn.

 

[Spot_On03]

Hadn't actually heard of this before. Learn something new everyday! I haven't come across anything like that my way, but good to know for future reference.

 

[Orangina]

If you can get the seedheads topped with a mulching mower, like a flail mower, the pieces will drop through the growing grass and rot away. Rain helps to wash down mulched clippings to the base of long grass. There’s no need to mow the whole lot down to 1 inch. The leaves of your grass is not affected.

we still have roughly 6-8 weeks of growth conditions, before cooler temps slows the grass growth down.

ETA: if your grass leaves are very long and falling over then you want to top it to around 6-9 inches - so you have grass leaves standing erect - then the mulched clippings can fall between erect grass leaf growing stems, rot away, while the grass continues growing through autumn.

Thank you so much for this thread, it made me go and check our winter grazing today and I have found some of this so need to take action. Can I just confirm, if I do the above action the mould dies off and then is not consumed by the horses? Is that correct? Thanks

 

[PurBee]

Thank you so much for this thread, it made me go and check our winter grazing today and I have found some of this so need to take action. Can I just confirm, if I do the above action the mould dies off and then is not consumed by the horses? Is that correct? Thanks

All cut grass, whether cut long strands or in tiny pieces will start to die -off and except in the driest of weathers, the entire lot will mould as its rotting.
I have never witnessed my horses nuzzle into composting, mouldy cut-grass clippings to get to grass beneath. They wait until the grass grows through the mulch and eat ‘clean leaves’.

If you want to keep a length of grass and just cut off the ergot stems youll need a flail mower, preferably, as that will chop the stems to 1-3inch pieces, which will fall through the grass and rot down.
If the ergot stems are cut long they’ll sit atop the long leafy grass and rot there - the horses will struggle to pick through it to find the green leaves, though they will try because they’ll smell the long luscious leaves beneath, so it puts them at more risk of consuming the moulding heads sitting ontop of the long grass.

Rain will wash mulch down leaf stems providing the leaves are still growing upright - also horses grazing stamp down the mulch, aiding its rotting into the soil enabling fresh grass to grow through.

Whats the length of the leafy grass youre hoping to use as winter feed? Is the leafy grass still standing upright or has it rolled over? What mower are you planning on using?

 

[southerncomfort]

Is their still a risk from slightly mouldy seed heads if no seeds have been produced?

I've hand snipped, removed and burnt any obviously ergotty heads then strimmed off the (hopefully clean) rest. I'm picking up and removing as much of the cut heads as i can but it's inevitable I'll miss some. I'm confident I've got everything that had produced seed but not so confident about slightly mouldy ones as they're harder to spot.

Edited to add: I've seen a few vets now say not to panic and just remove as much as you can. They seem to think that the biggest risk comes from eating seeds in hay.

 

[PurBee]

Is their still a risk from slightly mouldy seed heads if no seeds have been produced?

I've hand snipped, removed and burnt any obviously ergotty heads then strimmed off the (hopefully clean) rest. I'm picking up and removing as much of the cut heads as i can but it's inevitable I'll miss some. I'm confident I've got everything that had produced seed but not so confident about slightly mouldy ones as they're harder to spot.

Edited to add: I've seen a few vets now say not to panic and just remove as much as you can. They seem to think that the biggest risk comes from eating seeds in hay.

As you’ve removed most ergot heads, there’s no worry about missing some. Horses can tolerate some level of ergot just not loads all at once, which they’ll be at risk of if turned-out into a saved winter field full of it.

General moulds on old grass/hay are not preferable eating, and chronic ingestion can cause mycotoxicosis symptoms, yet again, horses tolerate some mould, it only becomes problematic when acute/chronic.
It sounds like you’ve got the worst of it removed ?

I dont agree there’s more risk of eating ergot in hay, as the drying process of making hay and the machinery to ted and bale the hay agitates the material so much, so will knock most of the ergot seeds off the stalk into the field. Ergot seeds are not fixed firmly onto the seedhead of hay.
Just like when making hay, when normal healthy seed heads are dried, many can fall off the stalk into the field, as the drying process loosens the seeds.
There’s a risk moreso of haylage made from an ergot-infested field as that is wilted for a day or 2, not fully dried or tedded much at all.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I've yet to see any posts linked to this sudden wider knowledge of ergot that say "oh god my horse had to be PTS with *exactly* those symptoms 7 years ago and we had no idea what it was!!" ... which I think is a good sign.

 

[southerncomfort]

As you’ve removed most ergot heads, there’s no worry about missing some. Horses can tolerate some level of ergot just not loads all at once, which they’ll be at risk of if turned-out into a saved winter field full of it.

General moulds on old grass/hay are not preferable eating, and chronic ingestion can cause mycotoxicosis symptoms, yet again, horses tolerate some mould, it only becomes problematic when acute/chronic.
It sounds like you’ve got the worst of it removed ?

I dont agree there’s more risk of eating ergot in hay, as the drying process of making hay and the machinery to ted and bale the hay agitates the material so much, so will knock most of the ergot seeds off the stalk into the field. Ergot seeds are not fixed firmly onto the seedhead of hay.
Just like when making hay, when normal healthy seed heads are dried, many can fall off the stalk into the field, as the drying process loosens the seeds.
There’s a risk moreso of haylage made from an ergot-infested field as that is wilted for a day or 2, not fully dried or tedded much at all.

Thank you, very helpful! ?

 

[southerncomfort]

I've yet to see any posts linked to this sudden wider knowledge of ergot that say "oh god my horse had to be PTS with *exactly* those symptoms 7 years ago and we had no idea what it was!!" ... which I think is a good sign.

I've had several riders go past when I've been ergot hunting and have asked what I was doing. None of them had ever heard of it.

It begs the question, how many horses will be grazing ergot infected fields this winter and will we see lots of sick horses? ?

 

[Jo25]

I am in south Lanarkshire-we have had the driest summer since I moved here in 2013 and we have much more ergot than usual-we’ve not had the rain we would normally have nor nothing like the rain England has had. So it’s a bit odd. Stressed grass maybe?

Hi, we moved to South Lanarkshire in 2017 with 3 horses, which I have rotated round about 8 acres since, with no issues. They've been on 2 acres most of the summer and are doing well, but the grass is very short now and I want to move my old 16.2 onto the next paddock before she starts to drop weight as she can be a hard keeper. It has been very dry here this summer, I think the water table must be low as we also had a dry winter, and not enough rain in the spring to replenish it. Just been to check the grazing - it was grazed in the spring so not many seed heads - but the ones there are have ergot! We are quite elevated and that particular paddock slopes steeply down and tends to be boggy in places, has open woodland and 2 springs and hasn't been dry and cracked like the top paddocks, so this was a little unexpected! Siting here with a cup of tea pondering what to do now ....