Mouth irritation
Some barley varieties that are cut for hay or silage have rough or barbed awns that may damage the mouth of livestock (Todd et al., 2003).
Nitrate accumulation
Forage barley is prone to nitrate accumulation that can lead to nitrate toxicity in animals that can result in death. Values of NO3-N that exceed 0.226% are considered toxic to all types and classes of livestock. Barley forage was found to contain 0.23% NO3-N at the boot stage (Cash et al., 2002). Selecting new barley varieties based on low NO3-N potential is possible (Surber et al., 2011).