Cattle eating pecan trees!

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ligon

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We are having very serious problems with cattle "eating" the leaves and breaking grafts on small (>7 feet) pecan trees.

We have about 40 head of cattle and about 400 pecan trees of various sizes in the pasture. Many of the pecans were grafted this year. Grass is always abundant and the cows are well taken care of.

When we planted the pecan seedlings, they were protected with a basket of "pig wire" about 18in in diameter by 5 feet tall. There was never any problem with the cattle (herefords) eating the pecan seedlings and small trees. We now have a different herd of cows (angus/simmental) and we are having terrible problems with tree damage.

We are making no grafts less than 7 feet off the ground but the cows are pushing over the grafted trees, eating the leaves and knocking the grafts off the trees.

We have been told that this is a "minerals" problem and that if we feed the cattle more minerals they will stop eating the trees. We do not find this to be true!! These cows have been seen eating not just pecan trees but also cedar trees although they have access to all sorts of mineral supplements.

We would really like to know if anyone has a "cure" for this problem. We have always understood that cattle and pecans were a good combination but not for us. We are on the verge of switching back to herefords.

Thanks much
 
dun":3jfzbnod said:
The only "cure" is to keep the cows away form the trees.
Or take a cattle panel, tie the ends together to make a ring to place around the tree. Hold it in place with 3 t-post.
 
Protect the trees or remove the cattle.

You'll have fun when the trees get old enough to produce pecans and the cattle eat the pecan crop.
 
Cattle and trees small enough for the cattle to push over will trash out the trees. They like something to rub on, etc.

Decide which are more important to you: cattle or trees. Then remove the "less important" one. With 400 trees it would not be economical to erect fencing around all of them. However, you could install cross fencing to separate cattle from trees.

The only trees cattle will not trash out will be ones with trunks large enough they can't push over (probably 4 to 6" in diameter). Then, of course, they will "prune" the leaves and limbs as high as they can reach...probably 6 to 7 feet high, maybe 8 feet.
 
ligon":1jsmtoy5 said:
We are having very serious problems with cattle "eating" the leaves and breaking grafts on small (>7 feet) pecan trees.

We have about 40 head of cattle and about 400 pecan trees of various sizes in the pasture. Many of the pecans were grafted this year. Grass is always abundant and the cows are well taken care of.

When we planted the pecan seedlings, they were protected with a basket of "pig wire" about 18in in diameter by 5 feet tall. There was never any problem with the cattle (herefords) eating the pecan seedlings and small trees. We now have a different herd of cows (angus/simmental) and we are having terrible problems with tree damage.

We are making no grafts less than 7 feet off the ground but the cows are pushing over the grafted trees, eating the leaves and knocking the grafts off the trees.

We have been told that this is a "minerals" problem and that if we feed the cattle more minerals they will stop eating the trees. We do not find this to be true!! These cows have been seen eating not just pecan trees but also cedar trees although they have access to all sorts of mineral supplements.

We would really like to know if anyone has a "cure" for this problem. We have always understood that cattle and pecans were a good combination but not for us. We are on the verge of switching back to herefords.

Thanks much

Whether you want to believe it or not its a mineral problem. They are probably copper deficient or at least mineral deficient of some sort especially if they strip the bark off the trees. You need to take a serious look at your mineral program. Also they are pushing them over to rub on em. Have you wormed or treated your cows for lice this year?
 
Cattle love pecan leaves. We run our cattle in the orchards several times a year to keep the grass down. They're in the orchard now getting it cleaned up before we shake the trees and harvest the pecans. Our trees are probably 100 years old, so they don't hurt them, however when we plant young trees, we'll be keeping them away from them. They will eat all the leaves, and walk over them (pushing them down) to get every single leaf off.

Everywhere we run our cows with trees, there is not a low hanging leaf in sight. The cows just love to eat leaves.
 
S&WSigma40VEShooter":yx6lbxi7 said:
Whether you want to believe it or not its a mineral problem. They are probably copper deficient or at least mineral deficient of some sort especially if they strip the bark off the trees. You need to take a serious look at your mineral program. Also they are pushing them over to rub on em. Have you wormed or treated your cows for lice this year?

Could be, but I vote for cows being cows
 
dun":1425y0s1 said:
S&WSigma40VEShooter":1425y0s1 said:
Whether you want to believe it or not its a mineral problem. They are probably copper deficient or at least mineral deficient of some sort especially if they strip the bark off the trees. You need to take a serious look at your mineral program. Also they are pushing them over to rub on em. Have you wormed or treated your cows for lice this year?

Could be, but I vote for cows being cows


That to. Cows would tear up a steel anvil.
 
had one eat a offshore fishing jig last year when one of my buddies left his rod within reach of the darn thing. Perfect hook set, right in the corner of its mouth. :shock:
 

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