PUBLISHED BY MANITOBA BEEF PRODUCERS
MAY 2024
Miriam Graham, along with dad Titus, were all smiles as they met Bindi and Jessica Riach from the Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program while visiting the MBP booth at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. (Photo credit: Brian English)
Watch Out for Poisonous Plants in Pastures During Dry Conditions Drought conditions can result in new concerns for beef producers in terms of the poisonous plants that might be present – and more available – in their pastures or hayfields. Producers already know that they are going to have drier than normal conditions to start out with this spring because of minimal snowfall over the winter in many areas, so toxic plants are something they need to be more aware in the months ahead, says Kim Brown, Manitoba Agriculture’s weed specialist. “Definitely over the last few years we have seen some drought issues,” she says. “Some of these poisonous plants tend to grow in wetter areas and those wetter areas have dried up. Due to the dry conditions, animals are able to get into and forage in areas they wouldn’t normally touch because they are usually swampy and
wet. We have definitely seen some poisonings come along that way.” Plants to avoid One of those poisonous plants to try and avoid at all costs is water hemlock that grows in wetter areas. There have been multiple cases of suspected water hemlock poisoning across Manitoba in recent years. “One of the problems is there are other plants that look very much like water hemlock,” she says. “Water parsnip is very similar, but it’s not nearly as toxic. But producers should assume it’s all water hemlock because they don’t know unless they get really up close and look at it. It’s possible to have lots of populations where there are both plants. When it comes to water hemlock, I would just say do everything you can to keep the cattle away from that plant. It’s very toxic and it shouldn’t be handled by humans either because it is so poisonous.” Seaside arrowgrass, that grows in saline areas, is
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another species that producers should be concerned about, especially in a dry year. “If we are in a drought, we tend to see those saline areas increase in drought years. Salinity increases because of the net upward movement of water, we don’t have enough water from above to push the salts back down,” Brown says. “The salts end up evaporating at the surface, and other plants don’t like to grow where it’s salty, so you end up with some of these species – like seaside arrowgrass - that do like to grow in salty areas. Animals will eat them because they are green and they may like the higher salt content in them.” Field horsetail (or scouring rush) contains a compound that is toxic to cattle but more so to horses, as animals being fed grain do seem to have more resistance to the dangerous compound in the plant. page 13
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BY ANGELA LOVELL