{"id":14581,"date":"2012-07-09T08:26:22","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T13:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=14581"},"modified":"2013-11-15T15:46:21","modified_gmt":"2013-11-15T21:46:21","slug":"what-we-know-about-the-mysterious-cattle-deaths-in-central-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/07\/09\/what-we-know-about-the-mysterious-cattle-deaths-in-central-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Know About the Mysterious Cattle Deaths in Central Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jeff Heimsath\/ StateImpact Texas<\/p>

A man herds cattle at the West Auction in the winter of 2012.<\/p><\/div>\n

“There was nothing we could do.”<\/p>\n

It’s a phrase that rancher Jerry Abel returns to often when talking about the the day that his cattle dropped dead on his ranch. Listening to him talk about it, one is struck by the sense of powerlessness he felt watching the animals succumb.<\/p>\n

Abel raises cattle for rodeo events, and it was after a roping exercise last May that he set his cows to pasture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe field adjacent to their pen, it wasn\u2019t really good enough because of the drought for haying,” Abel told StateImpact Texas. “But there was quite a bit of grass on there. So we decided we could just turn the cattle out on it so they could graze some.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was about two hours later that the cows started to bellow. Abel and his trainer rushed back to see what was the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some already dead and the rest of them were on the ground, in convulsions and obviously dying. And there was really nothing we could do. Out of the 18 that had been there 15 of them died,” he said.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The shock of watching the cows die gave way to a new surprise when researchers determined what had killed them.<\/p>\n

The cattle died after eating the fresh growth in the pasture. Prussic acid, a compound much like cyanide, had formed in the grass. At first, both USDA scientists and Texas Agrilife Extension researchers couldn\u2019t believe what they had found.<\/p>\n

Initially, researchers told Abel that his animals were poisoned by the hay they had been eating.<\/p>\n

“They called back and said, ‘No, it was prussic acid in the Tifton,’\u201d He said.<\/p>\n

Grass, It’s What Beef Has for Dinner<\/h4>\n

Tifton 85<\/a> is the hybrid Bermuda grass that Abel grew to feed his cattle. It hit the market in the early nineties, and quickly became popular for its nutritional value and resistance to drought. It\u2019s now planted throughout the South. \u00a0But by all accounts this is the first time it\u2019s turned deadly, said Larry Redmon, State Forage Specialist for Texas Agrilife Services at Texas A&M<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been literally millions of head of livestock raised on that grass on millions of acres, so it’s very unlikely that we would see that happen again,” Redmon said.
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Redmon has been studying Tifton 85 for years. He promoted<\/a> its use in the 1990s, and is one of the lead researchers looking into the incident in Elgin.<\/p>\n

Since the cattle deaths attracted media attention, A&M has put out a press release<\/a> calling the deaths an \u201cisolated incident.\u201d Tired, hungry cows ate extremely new-growth grass that had just been fertilized. The circumstances, somehow, lead to their deaths.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t had hardly any phone calls or hardly any emails relative to the press release or the email that went out.” Redmon told StaeImpact Texas. “I\u2019ve had very few questions from county agents. So I think if there\u2019s any concern, I think the news media made a big concern out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking for Answers<\/h4>\n
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Photo by Mose Buchele<\/p>

Brent Johnson is a rancher in Elgin, He says ranchers using Tifton 85 want to know how the cattle died on Jerry Abels ranch.<\/p><\/div>\n

In fact, people in the ranching communities of Central Texas are talking about it.<\/p>\n

On a recent afternoon in Bastrop County, Elgin Rancher Brent Johnson was picking up a horse at a veterinary clinic. He says when he first heard the news from neighbors, he didn’t believe it was true.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t use Tifton 85, but if he did, he says, he’d want to know the reason the grass turned deadly.<\/p>\n

“Apparently it killed these cattle in a matter of minutes,” said Johnson.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rancher Jerry Abel also reports heightened concerns among his neighbors. \u00a0And news of the deaths has reached as far north as Nebraska, where Joey Jones<\/a> works as a grass feeding consultant. It’s a profession that brings him in regular contact with ranchers.<\/p>\n

“I just talked with one yesterday, he\u2019s about to seed a pasture and he was thinking Tifton 85 and now he\u2019s not thinking Tifton 85 because of this one story,” Jones told StateImpact Texas.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I\u2019d sure want to figure out what causes it. Apparently it killed these cattle in a matter of minutes.” <\/em>-Brent Johnson, Rancher<\/div><\/em><\/p>\n

Even researcher Larry Redmon, who classifies the deaths as an isolated incident, wrote in an email to agriculture extension agents that there is now \u201cthe potential for cattle deaths when grazing Tifton 85.\u201d<\/p>\n

That email was sent before the official press release, and includes a list of precautions ranchers should take when grazing cattle on Tifton 85, a list the press release does not include. The difference in tone between the email and the press release has also struck some as jarring. The email, titled “Potential Toxicity Issues with Tifton 85 Bermudagras,” <\/a><\/strong>appears to strike a deeper note of concern than the press release, titled “Experts: Texas cattle deaths due to prussic acid \u2018isolated incident.\u2019”<\/p>\n

It’s a difference Redmon does not see.<\/p>\n

“The initial email is completely in agreement with the news release,” he told StateImpact Texas. “The initial email was directed to agency personnel so that they would be able to answer questions that might start coming into their offices.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

A New Victim of the Drought?
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Scientists would have a better understanding of whether Tifton could turn deadly again, if they knew exactly what circumstances caused the cattle deaths in Elgin.<\/p>\n

One theory is that last year\u2019s historic drought, already the cause of so much suffering among ranchers<\/a>, was the culprit.<\/p>\n

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