Heard a good presentation by these folks on grazers and weeds.
http://www.behave.net/index.html
http://www.behave.net/index.html
novatech":epzuzlrg said:How do you get to the article you want us to read?
OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.
I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.
http://www.behave.net/projects/pasture-eatingtoxins2006.htmlCapt Call":203sz14w said:novatech":203sz14w said:How do you get to the article you want us to read?
OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.
I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.
After a lifetime of improving pastures to maximize grass to run the most cattle per acre. Why would you want cattle to eat weeds this sounds like a case of poor pasture management.
novatech":mf75f6ja said:How do you get to the article you want us to read?
OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.
I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.
Capt Call":vpyxurf9 said:novatech":vpyxurf9 said:How do you get to the article you want us to read?
OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.
I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.
After a lifetime of improving pastures to maximize grass to run the most cattle per acre. Why would you want cattle to eat weeds this sounds like a case of poor pasture management.
It is a matter of perspective. When you maximize with a single variety of grass, are you doing what is best for the cattle, and the land? In a cow calf operation, I beleive a variety of forages does more for a balanced diet. Cattle seem to eat what their body requires. Otherwise why would they eat mineral. I like my pastures to be mostly high protein grass, but haveing access to brush, vines, weeds, legumes, and other plants helps in their over-all nutritional needs. I have observed cattle prefering some weeds,at young growth stage, over what I would consider the better grass right next to it. I have seen cattle do well on nothing but forest land for grazing.Capt Call":1fnihar3 said:novatech":1fnihar3 said:How do you get to the article you want us to read?
OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.
I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.
After a lifetime of improving pastures to maximize grass to run the most cattle per acre. Why would you want cattle to eat weeds this sounds like a case of poor pasture management.
ga. prime":2050cpti said:I'd be real interested in getting ahold of some cows with a taste for carolina horsenettles.
And Dog-Fennel.dun":235xcd3i said:ga. prime":235xcd3i said:I'd be real interested in getting ahold of some cows with a taste for carolina horsenettles.
Yup, and spiny pigweed.
BAGTIC":2yc91er2 said:Ag agent surveyed my place and warned me to get rid of the musk thistle before it bloomed or they would take over the place.
Before I got around to spraying the cows had eaten all of them. Got a flyer at the feed store one day about sericea lespedeza. They were warning it was a dangerously invasive weed. We have some at our place around the main pond, inside the fence, about as far inside as a cow's neck will reach.
I sure am glad that my cows can't read.