Developing Strategies to Reduce the Toxicity of Ergot Alkaloids in the Diet of the Feedlot Cattle
Project Title
Developing Strategies to Reduce the Toxicity of Ergot Alkaloids in the Diet of the Feedlot Cattle
Researchers
Dr. Gabriel Ribeiro - University of Saskatchewan gabriel.ribeiro@usask.ca
Dr. Kim Stanford, University of Lethbridge; Dr. Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Dr. Tim McAllister, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Dr. Barry Blakley, University of Saskatchewan Dr. Dinesh Dadarwal, University of Saskatchewan; Kathy Larson, University of Saskatchewan
| Status | Project Code |
|---|---|
| In progress. Results expected in June, 2028 | FDE.02.21 |
Background
Feeding ergot contaminated grain is known to cause a wide range of animal health concerns including heat stress, cold stress, poor ADG, lameness, and even the loss of ears or tails in extreme cases. In a previous BCRC funded trial, this team looked at feeding cattle diets with 1.5 or 3 ppm ergot. This resulted in 10-15% lower ADG, final weight, and total weight gain. Also cattle in the 3 ppm group started experiencing heat stress at 20ºC and had to be pulled off of the trial early due to welfare concerns with heat stress. This project wants to further evaluate the effects of ergot and environmental stressors and see if a mycotoxin deactivating product can be used to reduce toxicity.
Objectives
- Determine the impact of a novel mycotoxin deactivating product when feedlot cattle are fed continuous doses of dietary ergot alkaloids and the binder or intermittently both alkaloids and the binder.
- Evaluate the impact of continuously feeding ergot to beef cattle in the summer vs. winter (warm vs. cold weather) to determine if the binder can mitigate ergot-induced heat stress.
- Evaluate the impact of feeding ergot with markedly different alkaloid profile (diverging in R- and S- enantiomer concentration) on growth performance and toxicity.
What they will do
Theses researchers will be conducting three trials.
In the first study they will look at continuous vs. intermittent feeding to see if cattle who are not fed ergot consistently experience the same symptoms as those that are. The intermittent group will be fed 2 ppm ergot contaminated feed for 1 week on and then receive a diet with no ergot for 2 weeks. This will be repeated through the feeding period
In the second study they want to look at the effects of feeding ergot in summer vs. winter. They will finish cattle in both seasons with or without the mycotoxin deactivating product and evaluate animal welfare and performance.
Finally, researchers plan to look at the different ergot alkaloids to see if they play a role in the toxic effects of ergot. Cattle will be finished on 2 ppm ergot inclusion of either the R and S concentrations.
In all studies a mycotoxin deactivating product will be tested to check if it can reduce ergot impacts on health and performance. Grain samples will be collected and analyzed. Animal growth performance and welfare measures will be recorded and evaluated for effects of ergot on animal health and growth.
Implications
This study will give us a better understanding of ergot and how it effects cattle in the feedlot. It will also help to better understand if using a mycotoxin deactivating product can help reduce the risk of health and welfare concerns in cattle.