DALLAS — The sun was setting when Jerry Abel’s cattle began to bellow on his central Texas ranch. They were convulsing by the time he rushed to the pasture. Within hours, Abel had lost almost all his herd.
The culprit: toxic grass.
“I was totally, completely surprised,” Abel said from his Elgin ranch. “I never expected anything like this.”
Abel’s 15 dead cattle represent the first documented case of cyanide deaths being linked to a common Bermuda grass hybrid found in grazing lands across the Southeast. Although the incident in May initially sparked concern from other ranchers who use the same grass, state agriculture experts say they think the problem is isolated and there’s no cause for alarm.
“If cattle are already on pasture, don’t worry about it,” said Larry Redmon, a specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, which worked with state and federal agencies to investigate the deaths. “Chances are it’s not going to be an issue.”
But, he said, “I would never say never.”
Preliminary results from the investigation show Abel’s Tifton 85 grass contained cyanide, or prussic acid, though Redmond said what caused the poison to build up remains unclear and under investigation.
The grass, a warm-weather perennial grown south of the Red River, was released to ranchers in 1992 for its drought resistance and nutritive value and is perhaps the most commonly used Bermuda grass variety in Texas, the nation’s leading cattle state.
