Giles County Drought Brings Potential Contaminates to Stored Goods

With the lack of rain and drought conditions, Giles County is facing right now there can be issues with certain forages and nitrate toxicity. 

In fields where corn, sorghum hybrids, and other warm-season annual grasses were fertilized with nitrogen, stored nitrates could be a problem. 

During drought conditions plants go dormant and stop using nitrates. That’s when stored nitrates in the plant can be very toxic to livestock, especially in harvested hay or corn silage. 

The Giles County Extension office has a method to screen for potential nitrate issues. If nitrates are present then a forage sample can be sent to the UT Soil and Plant Diagnostic Lab in Nashville to determine the exact level of nitrates.  

For more information, please contact the Giles County Extension Office at 363-3523.