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Bloat Risk Increased with Improved Seasonal Conditions

Producers with lush, rapidly growing pastures with high legume contents should be aware of an increased risk of bloat with improved seasonal conditions and a promising outlook throughout southern states.


While there are some products available that may help to treat bloat, the best strategy is prevention. Hence, targeted management will ensure livestock are not affected and producers are still getting returns from their pastures in good seasons.

What is Bloat?

Bloat is a condition that can affect both cattle and sheep, but is more severe in cattle, and is caused by an inability to eructate (“burp”) a build-up of gas in the rumen, which can either be free or frothy, causing pressure on the diaphragm, disrupting breathing.



Bloat can cause severe discomfort in livestock and, in advanced cases, death.

What Causes Bloat?

The most common form is frothy bloat and occurs when a stable foam is created by the ingestion of legume pastures such as lucerne, medics, clover and lush grasses, which trap natural gases that cannot be belched up.

What Causes Bloat?

There are some distinctive clinical signs of bloat in animals grazing high-risk pastures, including:

  • distension in the left upper flank
  • cattle not grazing and reluctant to move
  • cattle appear distressed as the condition is painful and they may be agitated and vocalise or rub their sides against objects such as tree stumps
  • strain when urinating or defecating
  • sudden death.



If cattle are in distress, this must be remedied, and veterinary advice should be obtained. While signs of bloat are usually obvious, other causes of death from similar clinical signs, such as nitrate poisoning and clostridial diseases, can occur. If producers are unsure, a veterinary examination can help determine the condition.

Preventing Bloat

Producers concerned about the risk of bloat should take an integrated approach to preventing it this season. Management strategies for prevention include:

  • Gain professional advice to determine bloat risk of pasture.
  • Assess and identify high-risk pastures for bloat, especially lush, growing pastures with a high legume content, such as lucerne and sub-clover.
  • Avoid grazing high-risk pastures during their growing stage – mature pastures are lower risk.
  • If grazing high-risk pastures, apply mineral oil pasture sprays before grazing and treat trough water with a bloat oil formula.
  • Bloat blocks/ licks and anti-foaming supplements may be of benefit.
  • Limit grazing time or implement strip-grazing. (Note: animals can be affected by bloat in less than one hour of heavy grazing, so intense monitoring is recommended).
  • Ensure livestock have access to roughage such as hay. With higher risk conditions prevalent, do not put hungry animals onto that pasture. Cattle can be filled on roughage before being turned onto pasture to prevent them gorging as heavily.
  • With pasture management, aim towards grass-legume mixtures with no more than 40% legumes, and incorporate bloat-resistant legumes, such as Lotus corniculatis, into pasture mixes.


When using products, labels should be read and caution should be taken. Products should be used alongside strong management practices for the prevention of bloat.

Treating Bloat

The prevention of bloat should be of foremost importance for producers, but in cases where bloat has occurred, there are a number of treatment options, including:

  • removing cattle from pastures immediately if signs of bloat occur
  • bloat drench may provide relief in cases with early symptoms
  • veterinary application of stomach tubes, or trocar-and-cannula into the left paralumbar fossa.



A list of available treatment products and management options are available in NSW DPI’s Bloat in cattle and sheep.

Staying Ahead

Although bloat is of the greatest risk when pastures are growing and lush, producers should be mindful that issues can persist after the perceived ‘danger period’ has elapsed.


Prolonged wet seasons and green pastures can still create bloat issues, so careful monitoring and management should remain.



Ensure 5-in-1 vaccinations are up-to-date to reduce the chance of other diseases causing similar symptoms to bloat and creating confusion.

Help Out with Bloat Research

Charles Sturt University is conducting research to assess the impact of bloat in Australian beef production systems, and are inviting participation in a survey to share thoughts on bloat. The survey can be accessed at https://www.research.net/r/Bloat_survey, takes approximately 10–15 minutes to complete, and knowledge of bloat is not required

How Mineral Nutrition Impacts Health and Reproduction in Beef Herds

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Trace minerals are vital to the reproductive performance of Beef herds. So even though they are a small inclusion into the diet of cattle herds, minerals pack a big punch, with deficiencies causing a reduction in production of up to 20-30%.

Understanding and mitigating the risks of Pimelea.

September 2, 2024
With the perfect storm of events this winter, the pimelea growth has skyrocketed. Like the conditions seen in 2021 and 2022, late winter rainfall, followed by cold weather and limited tropical pasture growth has resulted in increased pimelea growth.  Pimelea is a native plant to Australia and New Zealand, with 150 identified species, of 110 are endemic to Australia. Of the species found around Australia, a small number (4) are associated with poisoning in cattle. P. elongata P. simplex subsp. continua P. simplex subsp. simplex P. trichostachya
A herd of brown cows standing in a field looking at the camera

Protein for Pastures

April 18, 2024
Widespread summer rainfall has created a great pasture base for many producers going into winter. While this pasture base allows our producers to reduce the need to purchase hay or substitute feed, the quality of the pasture in winter will decline and will become a limiting factor to production. Understanding that diet quality effects passage rate in the rumen and therefore pasture intake is key to creating an effective supplement program, particularly during winter. Pasture quantity and quality are key drivers of production. As the winter months creep forward, nutrient density in pastures change, primarily associated with plant maturity. As grasses reach maturity, phase 4 or when seed head has lost all seeds, these plants are both low in protein and energy. During this time, it is important to assess grasses and provide stock with adequate protein and energy to prevent weight loss and maintain production. As plants mature and become more lignified, they become harder to digest. Due to this reduction in digestibility of plants, the movement in the rumen in slower and ‘gut fill’ increases. As a result, the animal is unable to consume the required pasture intake to meet daily requirements. Typically, tropical grasses, during winter have a Crude protein and metabolisable energy level of 6% and 5 MJ respectively. At this level, cattle cannot consume enough pasture to meet requirements, with particular emphasis on breeding stock with higher maintenance requirements due to pregnancy or lactation. Using supplements with high protein and mineral can allow cattle to digest dry pastures and provide supplementary protein for production.

Sulphur for Sorghum

February 21, 2024
Summer forage crops are a great source of feed and increases animal performance with excellent returns. As with other forage crops, the young green leaf and shoots of sorghum are the most digestible and initially have the highest feed value however sorghum has a toxic component in the plant when young, immature, and fast growing. Prussic acid poisoning has been recognised for many years in cattle grazing forage sorghum crops. There are many factors that influence the incidence of Prussic Acid poisoning, and the great news is, it’s preventable through management and nutritional supplements.
a herd of cows standing in a dry grass field

Phosphorus for Profit

May 5, 2023
Winter supplements in Northern Australia are focused towards supplying increased protein where grasses are lacking. This is by far one of the most important parts of supplements in winter and a key component of maintaining breeder weights or improving growing animal weight gains. One of the biggest myths is; “Cattle cannot absorb phosphorus during the dry season”, this simply is not true. The factor of the most limiting nutrient is the biggest determination of how well a nutrient is absorbed. Dry season supplements address protein and energy deficiencies, due to these nutrients being the most limiting in dry mature pastures. Once these issues have been addressed, other nutrients become limiting, and the need of these nutrients presents itself. Phosphorus in the dry season is the third most limiting nutrient so the need for phosphorus becomes apparent when protein and energy deficiencies are met through supplementation providing urea.

Mulga Supplementation

April 23, 2023
Mulga provides a valuable feed source for stock, particularly through dry periods or drought. Mulga land types extend over areas of New South Wales and Queensland rangelands covering an impressive 20% of Australia’s landmass. Mulga provides supplementary feed to low quality pasture due to the mulga leaf retaining its nutritive value where grasses energy and protein level decline as they mature and die off. It is always important to consider the nutritional requirements for your stock and how to best meet these requirements.  Important considerations when feeding mulga are the common deficiencies found in the plant and how supplements can counteract these problems and improve production. Stock can do very well on mulga; however, mulga has a low digestibility and much of the protein is bound by tannins.

Winter Protein Supplementation

April 4, 2023
Understanding that diet quality effects passage rate in the rumen and therefore pasture intake is key to creating an effective supplement program, particularly during winter. With the current season being drier than usual and many parts of Queensland and Northern New South Wales recording lower than average summer rain falls, it is time to start thinking about supplementation during Autumn and Winter. Pasture quantity and quality are key drivers of production. As the winter months creep forward, nutrient density in pastures change, primarily associated with plant maturity. As grasses reach maturity, phase 4 or when seed head has lost all seeds, these plants are both low in protein and energy. During this time, it is important to assess grasses and provide stock with adequate protein and energy to prevent weight loss and maintain production.  As plants mature and become more lignified, they become harder to digest. Due to this reduction in digestibility of plants, the movement in the rumen in slower and ‘gut fill’ increases. As a result, the animal is unable to consume the required pasture intake to meet daily requirements. Typically, tropical grasses, during winter have a Crude protein and metabolisable energy level of 6% and 5 MJ respectively. At this level, cattle can not consume enough pasture to meet requirements, with particular emphasis on breeding stock with higher maintenance requirements due to pregnancy or lactation.
two cows grazing in a field one brown and one black

Are You Weaning Ready?

March 29, 2023
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a cow and calf standing in a grassy field

Kidman Springs Phosphorus Supplementation Trial Demonstrates > 300% ROI

December 8, 2022
It is well documented that much of northern Australia is phosphorus (P) deficient and that P is required for almost every vital bodily function in cattle. However, supplement sales figures and industry feedback indicates that the majority of northern properties in P deficient areas are not supplementing their cattle with P over the wet season. Current thinking is that producers must not believe that they will get a good enough return feeding a P supplement to justify the expense and hassle of feeding supplement over the wet season. Past studies have shown that P supplementation increases growth, however, there have been few studies that have found a significant improvement in reproductive performance from P supplementation in northern Australia and quantified the benefit. This may be a reason why adoption has been so low.  A trial commenced in 2014 at the Victoria River Research Station, Kidman Springs, to quantify the benefits of P supplementation. This trial will provide producers in P deficient areas with definitive data on the effects of supplementing females with P so that they are able to make better informed supplementation decisions. Brahman heifers born in 2014 were randomly allocated to either a +P (where phosphorus was supplied in the supplement) or –P (where phosphorus was not included in the supplement) treatment and grazed in neighbouring paddocks that were tested as acutely P deficient. Treatments swap paddocks in May each year to minimise paddock effects. Treatments are managed exactly the same year round, with the exception that their loose lick supplements either contain P (+P) or do not (-P). Composition of lick fed to each treatment can be seen in Table 1. Note: Soil test Colwell P levels: Acutely deficient: ≤4mg P/kg | Deficient: 5mg P/kg | Marginal: 6-8mg P/kg

Mulga- Your Stock, Your Supplement - With Clynt Johnstone

December 8, 2022
Future Beef- Case study on the effectiveness of the right supplement on mulga country.
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