Dr. Gabriel Ribeiro from the Dept. of Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Saskatchewan is my guest this week.  He has been researching the impacts of ergot in feed sources on cattle performance and he will discuss the levels of ergot that are safe for cattle, their impacts on cattle health, welfare and performance as well as how to test for and deal with feeds that might be high in ergot.

00:00 - 01:50  Introduction
01:51 - 02:54  What is ergot?
02:55 - 04:55  How to identify ergot in feed sources
04:56 - 07:30  Ergot and climatic conditions
07:31 - 08:39  Clinical effects of ergot alkaloids
08:40 - 09:36  Fescue toxicity vs Ergot toxicity
09:37 - 11:04  Effects of ergot on rumen function?
11:05 - 15:20  A clinical trial on the effects of ergot on cattle
15:21 - 17:51  Effects on the animals in the trial
17:52 - 21:06  The heat stress effect
21:07 - 22:44  Effects on performance
22:45 - 23:56  What levels of ergot are safe?
23:57 - 29:22  Recommendations for dealing with ergot contaminated feeds
29:33 - 30:52  Wrap up and conclusions