Hydrocyanic acid or prussic acid poisoning of livestock by sorghums [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and sudangrasses [Sorghum sudanese (Piper) Stapf] is caused by the digestive liberation of hydrocyanic acid (HCN) from the cyanogenic compound, dhurrin [(S)-p-hydroxymandelonitrile β-D-glucopyranoside] found in tissue of these plants. Recent research documented that dhurrin is also present in indiangrass [Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash] seedlings. The purpose of this study was to determine the hydrocyanic acid potential (HCN-p) of forage from established stands of indiangrass. Five cultivars representative of indiangrass germplasm of the Great Plains were sampled during the growing season for 2 years from 2 sites in eastern Nebraska. The HCN-p of the indiangrass sampled in this study exceeded 750 mg-1 kg dry wt. (dangerous level) only in spring when new growth was 20 cm tall or less. Levels were less than 500 mg-1 kg (safe) when new growth was at least 40 cm tall and were very low (<200 mg-1 kg) or not detected when the forage was over 1 m tall. Pure stands of indiangrass that are grazed when the new growth is less than 20 cm tall could be lethal to livestock. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.