bloat - Page 1 | Ag Proud

Benefits of sainfoin in pastures include less risk for bloat

Evaluating sainfoin for livestock: Protein, bloat risk and adaptability

August 14, 2025

Heather Smith Thomas

Exploring sainfoin and other forage options, researchers are weighing nutrition, adaptability and bloat risk.

All those tiny bubbles: A look at bloat in livestock

Legume bloat in livestock occurs when fermentation gases form stable foam in the rumen, preventing gas release. This buildup causes rumen expansion, respiratory distress and can lead to death.

September 17, 2024

Woody Lane

Everyone knows a livestock producer who’s lost animals to bloat. Because of the risk, some folks flatly refuse to graze their stock on dense stands of clover or alfalfa. Others kind of shrug, saying they’ve rarely lost animals and don’t worry about it much. So … what gives?

West: Beware the health risks during early season grazing

April 24, 2024

Tyler O'Donnell

As you turn out onto the new green grass, keep in mind the potential health implications that come with the decision, and with some mitigation hopefully they are avoided.

The physiology of pasture bloat

There is no number on a forage report that can tell you a stand is “safe” from bloat risk, but smart management can help reduce that risk.

January 15, 2024

Rebecca Kern-Lunbery

Alfalfa is a high-quality forage providing a high concentration of protein as well as energy. However, this is also what makes grazing alfalfa a bloat risk.

Bloat, a risk equation

Concentrations and rates of change form an equation with a relatively predictable set of factors. Each factor carries some risk, and when these risks converge, the result is legume bloat. Mathematical. Inevitable.

April 25, 2022

Woody Lane

Imagine it’s early morning on a warm summer day, a delightful pastoral scene. You see a herd of cattle grazing hungrily through a lush green field of alfalfa or white clover.

Managing to death and back to life

November 9, 2020

Erica Louder

We weaned our calves in October. It’s a transition period for the farm, a literal metamorphism as the juvenile animals prove themselves to be an independent entity. They were weaned, branded and weighed, and they entered the record as the baseline of our future herd. We are always hopeful that these animals will thrive, but like anything, there is no guarantee no matter how well we attempt to manage the variables.

Forage hazards following a freeze event

September 30, 2020

Ben Beckman and Megan Taylor

Cover crops, soil health, extended grazing and 13-way mixes are all buzzwords in the agronomic world today.

Ask a Vet: How to prevent calf bloat

September 16, 2020

Angela Garavet

Bloating in calves under 3 weeks old is usually caused by accumulating gas in their abomasum. This is a high-mortality-rate disease (usually over 60%) that happens quickly (usually within 24 hours).