A:   I have not seen or heard of abortions caused by a small amount of mold in hay fed to beef cows. If offered free choice to the cows, they will usually pick around the mold. You can sample the mold and send it in for tests. Many times producers will mix this hay with mold-free hay to dilute the amount of moldy hay consumed.

If the hay was moldy, that means that it was wet when baled. Is the hay dark brown in color once you get into the middle of the bale? If so that is an indication the there was some heating and some of the nutrients have been lost, mainly protein. This means that you may need to feed more of this hay to meet their needs or again add a higher quality feed with this feed.

Finally, sudan grass hay can contain nitrates if grown in drought conditions. In good growing conditions, nitrates are not a problem. So if you suspect nitrate, sample and test. Nitrates are usually located in the bottm 6 to 8 inches of the stalk or stem. If cattle are fed this hay free choice, they will select the leaves and upper portion of the stalk and avoid the lowere portion. If there are high nitrates, mix to a safe level using a hay low in nitrates. If you test the hay, in the resuts sheet that will be returned to you, they will indicate the safe levels.