This winter, farmers often found groups of dead cows that had fallen on recently baled hay. The death of the herd began with the first ten dead cows.

The University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Colombia, has been diagnosed with over 200 deaths due to nitrate poisoning.

Experts believe that the problem arose due to unusual weather over the past few years. Heavy rainfall gave way to severe drought, and the heat turned into cold. These extremes had an impact on plant growth biology, and poor vegetation on pastures exacerbated the situation, leading to hay deficiency.

The transformation of rains into droughts stopped the flow of plant juices from the root system to the leaves, crude nitrate remains in the stems of the plants. When farmers stack nitrate-rich grass in bales, hay becomes poisonous.

The cow’s rumen, which is the first stomach for digestion, normally needs nitrates to digest hay and produce protein, but when there are too many nitrates in the hay stalks, they overload the animal’s digestive system and enter the bloodstream. Then the cow dies.

Veterinarians advise a cow affected by the abundance of nitrates ingested with food to be fed peeled corn. This will be the first aid for the affected animal.