The Kentucky Beef Network and the University of Kentucky are pleased to announce that the Kentucky Livestock Marketing Association will be sponsoring the enrollment costs for Beef Quality and Care Assurance certification in September 2025.
The Kentucky BQCA program takes national BQA practices one step further to provide a holistic program for Kentucky producers by adding cattle handling and animal care components to the training models.
Educational modules provide the best management practices for handling cattle and provide for their well-being, in addition to training on the core principles of BQA.
The cost of BQCA enrollment is normally $5. however, during the month of September, the Kentucky Livestock Marketing Association will be sponsoring the enrollment costs, making it free for producers.
Producers interested in taking advantage of this opportunity can attend an in-person BQCA training on Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. at the Adair County Cooperative Extension Service.
PRUSSIC ACID
Each fall, prussic acid poisoning is a major concern for livestock producers, especially those who raise warm-season sorghum-based forages such as forage sorghum, sorghum-sudangrass, sudangrass, and johnsongrass. By taking proper precautions, you can prevent prussic acid poisoning in your animals.
Prussic acid poisoning occurs when livestock graze sorghum-based pastures shortly after the field experiences a traumatic event, such as frost. These forages can accumulate high levels of cyanide-producing compounds in their outer cells.
Further inside these plants are enzymes that can convert the compounds into poison. Frosts cause plant cells to rupture, which allows cyanide-producing compounds and enzymes to mix. If consumed by livestock, the compounds will interfere with how their bodies use oxygen, which can rapidly result in death.
Ruminants are especially susceptible to prussic acid poisoning because they have enzymes inside their rumen that are also capable of converting the cyanogenic compounds into poison.
Do not allow your animals to graze fields containing sorghum-based forages for five to seven days after a frost, even if it’s patchy. If a killing frost occurs, do not allow the animals to graze the pasture for at least seven days following the frost. With time, the forage can dry down, and prussic acid is reduced via volatilization.
You can cut sorghum-based forages for hay after a frost, but make sure the hay is properly cured before baling. During the curing process, prussic acid volatilizes and renders the forage safe for livestock feeding.
In most cases, you can ensile sorghum forages for baleage because the ensiling process reduces cyanide compounds in the forage. Delay feeding the baleage six to eight weeks after ensiling to allow the fermentation process to finish and toxin levels to decrease. If your forage has particularly high toxin levels at ensiling, have the baleage tested before feeding it to livestock.
The best way to prevent prussic acid? Make final harvests of susceptible forage species by grazing or by making hay prior to the first frost.
