In conjunction with the Louisville Area Beef Cattle Association, the Spencer County Cooperative Extension Service sponsors 2 annual beef production meetings which are held in the spring and fall.  The Association works with the Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent to solicit speakers from the University of Kentucky or industries related to beef production.  Each meeting averages 75-80 participants for each meeting.  During these meetings, various topics are discussed, including economic updates, animal reproduction, and marketing updates.

            During the 2017 spring meeting, the main topic of the meeting dealt with herd health.  There was a local veterinarian that spoke on herd health topics, including new regulations on prescription drug usage for beef animals.  Another topic that was discussed was titled “The Top 10 Toxicities in Cattle” and was presented by Dr. Cynthia Gaskill with the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.  During this presentation, she presented many toxicities that are fatal to cattle, including poisonous plants and arsenic poisoning.

            In early September, a producer that had attended this meeting had a hoop barn burn down and lost over 200 roll bales of hay during the fire.  He had several head of cattle in the area where the barn was.  Even though the loss of the hay was tremendous, the producer remembered Dr. Gaskill’s presentation on arsenic poisoning and death of animals who ingest the ashes of burned treated lumber.  During the burning of treated lumber, arsenic becomes readily available in the ashes and the ashes apparently taste good, as ingestion of ashes from burned pressure treated lumber is the #1 cause of arsenic poisoning in cattle in Kentucky.

            As a result of this program, the producer contacted the extension agent to begin the process of getting the ashes tested for arsenic.  Dr. Gaskill worked with the producer and agent to submit the required samples (ashes and unburned wood) to the diagnostic lab.  Results of the samples showed high levels of arsenic in the ashes.  The producer then buried all of the remaining ashes to alleviate any possibility of arsenic poisoning of his cattle and was able to save thousands of dollars due to the fact that his cattle were not poisoned and killed.