Good Shade Trees for Cattle???

[SaddleKreek]

I know I've heard oak and cherry trees are not good for cattle.

What type of trees would be ideal shade trees for cattle?

I live in Missouri.

Thanks

 

[Bez>]

I know I've heard oak and cherry trees are not good for cattle.

What type of trees would be ideal shade trees for cattle?

I live in Missouri.

Thanks

I am a long ways from you, but I believe you folks have Poplar trees - they grow fast and the leaves are quite edible. A disadvantage when the trees are small.

Bez>

 

[SaddleKreek]

That's a great idea.

I know we have those stupid locust trees. Wow, they're dangerous with those thorns! We are going to try and get rid of them by drill a hole in them and putting some type of chemical in the trunk of the tree. They really don't seem to bother the cattle.

 

[dbc]

we have cedar trees that the cows seems to enjoy. also have small groups of sweet gums.

 

[Jogeephus]

Don't be overly concerned with oaks or cherry. I got plenty and have never had a problem. True they can harm cattle but only if they are starving and gorge themselves on the acorns or cherry leaves.

In high traffic areas, I've noticed pecan (hickory) seems to withstand the cows hooves much better than oaks, pine and maple.(personal observation)

 

[msscamp]

I know I've heard oak and cherry trees are not good for cattle.

What type of trees would be ideal shade trees for cattle?

I live in Missouri.

Thanks

You might check into elm, or pine. I believe Ponderosa Pine is the only one whose needles are toxic, and even then cows generally won't eat them unless there is nothing else to eat. If you have a stream or creek, cottonwood is good for shade, but they tend to make a mess in the spring when they are producing cotton(or whatever that stuff is). Do not try to plant cottonwood anywhere except beside a reliable watersource, though.

 

[hurleyjd]

How many cows are you providing shade for. A shade with a pipe frame work would be better than the trees. You can move it around and not concentrate the manure under the trees. Move it in the pasture to different locations and you will have the manure distributed over the pasture better.

 

[SaddleKreek]

We have some elm trees. It does provide good shade, but when we had a bad ice storm this winter, it was a mess. The trees were cracking and braking off really big limbs. We also have a lot of elms in our yard. All of the elm trees were damaged. The ice storm left us with a huge mess to clean up and those trees do not throw as much shade this summer as last summer.

We do have some clumps of cedar trees in our pastures and the cattle do love rubbing on them.

We only have a few cattle (6). We do rotational grazing so spreading out the manure is not really a problem.

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions!

 

[msscamp]

It does provide good shade, but when we had a bad ice storm this winter, it was a mess. The trees were cracking and braking off really big limbs. We also have a lot of elms in our yard. All of the elm trees were damaged. The ice storm left us with a huge mess to clean up and those trees do not throw as much shade this summer as last summer.

I have limited experience with trees (most areas around here are mainly elm, cottonwood, pine, spruce, and cedar), but wouldn't this happen with pretty much all trees?

 

[dun]

It does provide good shade, but when we had a bad ice storm this winter, it was a mess. The trees were cracking and braking off really big limbs. We also have a lot of elms in our yard. All of the elm trees were damaged. The ice storm left us with a huge mess to clean up and those trees do not throw as much shade this summer as last summer.

I have limited experience with trees (most areas around here are mainly elm, cottonwood, pine, spruce, and cedar), but wouldn't this happen with pretty much all trees?

Elms took one of the worst hits from the ice storm. Other then decorative trees, the only ones that got more damage were sassafras trees and to a lessler degree sycamore and walnuts. Cedars, oaks, hickorys seemed to have faired the best (least worse), but they got hit awfully hard in some situations.

 

[kickinbull]

What is the best way to protect trees?

 

[Jogeephus]

What is the best way to protect trees?

From ice or cattle?

 

[msscamp]

It does provide good shade, but when we had a bad ice storm this winter, it was a mess. The trees were cracking and braking off really big limbs. We also have a lot of elms in our yard. All of the elm trees were damaged. The ice storm left us with a huge mess to clean up and those trees do not throw as much shade this summer as last summer.

I have limited experience with trees (most areas around here are mainly elm, cottonwood, pine, spruce, and cedar), but wouldn't this happen with pretty much all trees?

Elms took one of the worst hits from the ice storm. Other then decorative trees, the only ones that got more damage were sassafras trees and to a lessler degree sycamore and walnuts. Cedars, oaks, hickorys seemed to have faired the best (least worse), but they got hit awfully hard in some situations.

That is interesting. I know that cedars tend to be smaller, stouter, and more compact than elms, so that should give them greater strength I would think, but I could be wrong on that. What is it about oaks and hickory that enable them to withstand bad ice storms? I know oak is a hard wood, but I don't know if that is a quality inherent in the tree or if it is a trait acquired after curing. If the stories about the 'mighty oak tree' are any indication, it's inherent. I don't know the first thing about hickory trees, except for the stories about disciplining kids with the proverbial hickory switch. If those stories are true, I'm sure glad we didn't have any growing nearby when I was growing up - Dad's belt was bad enough! :lol: :lol:

 

[Beefy]

for your area you will need a stout strong tree. something like a live oak. your faster growing trees are going to be weaker. my best shade trees are Live Oaks, chinaberry trees, and pines mostly.

 

[gabby]

I know I've heard oak and cherry trees are not good for cattle.

What type of trees would be ideal shade trees for cattle?

I live in Missouri.

Thanks

I have lots of oak trees and they're fine and they grow pretty fast.

I have wild cherry too. I've always heard that wild cherry leaves are poisonous when they're freshly wilted. Never has happened to my cows though.

 

[Cowdirt]

I know I've heard oak and cherry trees are not good for cattle.

What type of trees would be ideal shade trees for cattle?

I live in Missouri.

Thanks

Hackberry is the best tree for cattle that are in my pasture. They make good shade and have a tremendous root system. Cows can really abuse even a small one and I have never seen one die from it.

 

[dun]

Hackberry is the best tree for cattle that are in my pasture. They make good shade and have a tremendous root system. Cows can really abuse even a small one and I have never seen one die from it.

And the bark makes an excellent scratcher to get rid of winter hair.

 

[Saltydawg]

Poplar trees are good. Fast growing and cows like to eat the tender parts when they can reach um.
Careful if your planting locust as there is two varieties, Honeylocust and black locust. The Black locust can be toxic if an animal eats enough of it while the honeylocust are harmless.
Locust makes GREAT firewood as well (one of the hardest woods found in north america, make sure you cut it green though or you'll swear someone started hitting your sawchain with a hammer trying to cut dried locust).
My cows like the apple trees as well, especially in the fall when apples are dropping :lol: .
Oak and cherry have never bothered my cows and i have a good bit of that around as well.
Maples make good shade trees also.

 

[Chuckie]

Of all the trees in the pasture, the cattle go to the cedar trees. They will break the branches off where the limbs rub their backs. Standing under the cedar tree, it has a very strong smell, and helps repel the flies. They seem to not fight horseflies there either.

Cedar trees grow extremely fast. If you plant several in a row, it will be plenty of shade for several cows. The tips of the outer branches hang lower, and it hard to see the cows under them most of the time. We have a long line of them where an old fence row used to be.
Chuckie

 

[novatech]

Cedar trees are great but there is a downside. Cedar trees tap the water and nutrients for a great distance away from the drip line. They are also invasive as their seeds sprout up all over the pasture.
Planting trees for shade is a very long term project that maybe only your grandchildren may reep the benifits from.
If you need shade now I would suggest a shade arbor, the same type they have at a nursery. They do not suck valuable nutrients or water from your pasture. But then they don,t add any value to the property either.
I have cedars hackberry and other trees growing in some fence lines on lease property that adjoin my hay meadow. After planting haygrazer I could almost imeadiatly see the effects the trees had on the grass production. In some areas some 80 feet into the meadow. I then built a deep running chisel plow and cut the roots on the hay field side. I re- fertilized along that same line and the grass caught up with the rest of the field.