Weeds cows eat

[lancemart]

My friend has Scotish Highlanders and they eat everything. So don't tell me cows don't eat weeds. They eat trees, brush, weeds, grass and clear the land to nothing.

 

[jt]

My friend has Scotish Highlanders and they eat everything. So don't tell me cows don't eat weeds. They eat trees, brush, weeds, grass and clear the land to nothing.

i wont, but lance, if they are eating the land to nothing... dont you think the land is overstocked?? given enough grass, cows will leave lots of weeds. but they will eat em if there isnt anything else.

jt

 

[Bama]

I once saw a starving horse eat sawbriers . Notice I said starving.

 

[lancemart]

I once saw a starving horse eat sawbriers . Notice I said starving.

All I know is what I see. My cows are not starving and they have great green grass to eat. I rotate them every week in about 6 areas. So, each area gets to rest 5 weeks. At the end of the week they are not only eating grass they are eating weeds. I am writing this because of the last thread, where caustic Bruno got very caustic and called me goober or something like that, and said cows do not eat weeds. My cows eat weeds and green grass at the same time, so I don't know who the real goober is??????

 

[Texan]

All I know is what I see. My cows are not starving and they have great green grass to eat. I rotate them every week in about 6 areas. So, each area gets to rest 5 weeks. At the end of the week they are not only eating grass they are eating weeds. I am writing this because of the last thread, where caustic Bruno got very caustic and called me goober or something like that, and said cows do not eat weeds. My cows eat weeds and green grass at the same time, so I don't know who the real goober is??????

That sounds like good grazing management to me. If it's working for you, continue to do it. Nothing wrong with forcing cows to eat young weeds. Especially since you have a fresh pasture to rotate them to afterwards. I like to make my cows eat young weeds in the Spring and early Summer. You might have healthier pastures than some of the rest of us. It's darn sure cheaper than chemicals and running a tractor over your land.

Maybe Caustic will apologize to you. He might even want to come see your operation when he and Ruby take their vacation this summer. You don't sound like a goober to me. At least, not about the grazing. ;-)

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

I agree with Texan, Lance. Sounds like you are doing a good job with your rotational grazing, albeit on a small scale. Many of us would like to have 6 seperate "pastures" to rotate through. However, even with the best grazing management things can get pretty tough when the weatherman just doesn't help us out for extended periods of time, as you are apparently finding out. Texan could tell you about some REAL drought conditions! But the rotational grazing is one issue on which the college types and the "ranching for a living" types agree.

On a different note, while I know it is easier said than done, IMHO sometimes you (all of us) just have to let certain isolated comments roll off your (our) back and try not to get too worked up over relatively petty things.

I hope you have a great weekend and that you'll soon be passing out cigars. :lol:

 

[Bama]

I once saw a starving horse eat sawbriers . Notice I said starving.

All I know is what I see. My cows are not starving and they have great green grass to eat. I rotate them every week in about 6 areas. So, each area gets to rest 5 weeks. At the end of the week they are not only eating grass they are eating weeds. I am writing this because of the last thread, where caustic Bruno got very caustic and called me goober or something like that, and said cows do not eat weeds. My cows eat weeds and green grass at the same time, so I don't know who the real goober is??????

My commit was only to imply that if and animal is starving they will get anything. In a normal pasture cows will eat some weeds before grass. Expecially when they are young and tender. As the grass declines they will tend to eat some of the others. Some are actually good for them. When you run out of grass they will eat most anything. Sawbriers are really tough and not normally eaten. They will pick at the leaves sometimes. Look at a horse lot that is way to small for them and it will be all dirt. Rotational grazing is good for a pasture. Let them eat it down to where they are eating some of the weeds before moving on to the next. If you rotate before they have consumed down to about 2-3 inches the grass will never catch up unless you have plenty of it. If your in a tight without grass simply feed hay for a little while and let the grass recover.

 

[Caustic Burno]

All I know is what I see. My cows are not starving and they have great green grass to eat. I rotate them every week in about 6 areas. So, each area gets to rest 5 weeks. At the end of the week they are not only eating grass they are eating weeds. I am writing this because of the last thread, where caustic Bruno got very caustic and called me goober or something like that, and said cows do not eat weeds. My cows eat weeds and green grass at the same time, so I don't know who the real goober is??????

That sounds like good grazing management to me. If it's working for you, continue to do it. Nothing wrong with forcing cows to eat young weeds. Especially since you have a fresh pasture to rotate them to afterwards. I like to make my cows eat young weeds in the Spring and early Summer. You might have healthier pastures than some of the rest of us. It's darn sure cheaper than chemicals and running a tractor over your land.

Maybe Caustic will apologize to you. He might even want to come see your operation when he and Ruby take their vacation this summer. You don't sound like a goober to me. At least, not about the grazing. ;-)

I doubt that will happen I hate to bust your bubble but an acre is not a pasture lawn maybe ,small lot at best. Cattle eat grass will browse once in a while on leaves, love collar greens turnips and vegatables. So if your cows are eatin weeds there are dang hungry you better break out that cub cadet and pump garden sprayer and get after them pastures ROTFLMAO.
Maybe old peanut the bull is so bored he is eating weeds , nothing else to do.

 

[Wewild]

My cows eat weeds and green grass at the same time, so I don't know who the real goober is??????

I got you down as a goob. I call my best friends that when they need it.

1. goober
basically a goober is just a kindhearted, rather oblivious goofball. it's term of endearment really. it comes from the ancient scottish verb "to goub", which has to do with doing a dance and smiling sheepishly while doing so

2. goober
A term of endearment used in place of a person's real name; a nickmame. The first word that comes to mind when your baby starts to crawl, walk, talk. Used only in the most loving of ways with no negative connation at all. A loving nickname for someone who is pure, innocent, warms your heart and makes you smile.

3.goober
stupid person, airhead, slow

Now I don't know how he meant it but I'd say you are on this list.

 

[lancemart]

My cows eat weeds and green grass at the same time, so I don't know who the real goober is??????

I got you down as a goob. I call my best friends that when they need it.

1. goober
basically a goober is just a kindhearted, rather oblivious goofball. it's term of endearment really. it comes from the ancient scottish verb "to goub", which has to do with doing a dance and smiling sheepishly while doing so

2. goober
A term of endearment used in place of a person's real name; a nickmame. The first word that comes to mind when your baby starts to crawl, walk, talk. Used only in the most loving of ways with no negative connation at all. A loving nickname for someone who is pure, innocent, warms your heart and makes you smile.

3.goober
stupid person, airhead, slow

Now I don't know how he meant it but I'd say you are on this list.

Thank you-I was just a little uptight tonight, maybe it was meant in a good way.
I just ask questions so I can get the correct answer ans sometimes to you guys they are probably very stupid questions, but like I mentioned before where I am there are not too many people with answers. Try to buy a cattle rub. That took me hours to explain, to my local grain man.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Allright Goober your tryin I give you that. If land is as valuable as you say it is there why don't you sell out and move to a state where you can live the life style you want. Don't say my job cause ther are jobs in all fifty states. All you got to do is reach down and find a set of cojones.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Allright Goober your tryin I give you that. If land is as valuable as you say it is there why don't you sell out and move to a state where you can live the life style you want. Don't say my job cause ther are jobs in all fifty states. All you got to do is reach down and find a set of cojones.

Ain't that the dang truth Caustic!!!

 

[Campground Cattle]

Cattle will browse a little not much I forget the percentages of browse in there diet. Cattle are very picky eaters after grass love legumes, fruits, vegatables, leaves of cetain trees. But this is not weeds. I wish they would eat weeds I could quit spending money on 2-4D and Grazon to kill the dang things.

 

[dph]

what you are probably finding is differences in what people refer to as "weeds" we rotationally graze and they will go right to velvetleaf and a few others around an old bale ring etc before they go to the grass. This is when the weeds are young and growing. But ragweed is also a weed, and they would have to be pretty hungry to eat that, young or otherwise. Some they will eat, but most they don't.

 

[Texan]

Maybe Caustic will apologize to you.

I doubt that will happen I hate to bust your bubble but an acre is not a pasture lawn maybe ,small lot at best. Cattle eat grass will browse once in a while on leaves, love collar greens turnips and vegatables. So if your cows are eatin weeds there are dang hungry you better break out that cub cadet and pump garden sprayer and get after them pastures ROTFLMAO.
Maybe old peanut the bull is so bored he is eating weeds , nothing else to do.

Yeah, Caustic. I kinda doubt that apology will ever happen, too. But I thought you deserved a chance at it for calling him names and making fun of him instead of admitting you were wrong. But since you elected not to, I'll go ahead and put in my two cents worth---


The fact is, a lot of cattle in this country graze weeds from time to time. Many of the early season grazing leases for stocker cattle in this country consist primarily of lush green weeds. Maybe you should tell the guys that run thousands of calves on weeds getting them ready for summer grass that their calves just won't eat weeds, according to Caustic Burno. Truth is, cattle will eat most grassy weeds and will also eat many problem broadleaf weeds like buttercup and others if you can graze them before they get too tall. It's a simple fact, but weeds are free until we start spending money on them. A lot of cattle in this country do good on weeds. So do the cattlemen that choose to utilize them before they throw money at them.

I guess poor folks has got poor ways, but I try to graze weeds hard early in the year. I know a lot of you can afford to spray all of your pastures and spread seed and fertilizer in all of them every year, but all of us don't operate like that. My cows don't know the difference between two inch buttercup and two inch clover. I do, because the buttercup is free and I have a brief window of time to use it before it gets too big and unpalatable. Then, it just becomes another invasive weed. Isn't grazing some of it better than spending money on it? My problem is that, unlike Lancemart, I just can't (or don't) concentrate enough cattle in that area to knock them all out. Young weeds also provide early season protein for me. Thank goodness for that. That's protein that doesn't have to come out of a sack. And if a cow only pulls a weed up and spits it back out, I feel like I have done a better job than spending money out of my pocket to control that weed. That's not really all that hard to figure, is it?

Some of you seem to think that manicuring your pastures with chemicals and shredding/bushhogging is the only way to operate. Many of us choose to spend our resources on things other than chemicals, diesel, and wearing out equipment. Don't get me wrong---I do plenty of shredding and use my share of chemicals, too. But I wouldn't if I could make a cow eat those weeds and not hurt production out of her. Being a low-cost producer obviously isn't something that many of you are familiar with. And I realize that many of you don't even care about learning. But running tractors over land adds a tremendous amount of expense to your annual cow costs. Of course, I realize that some of you don't ever figure things like annual cow costs. But every time I shred pastures, I can't help but think of what it is costing me on a per cow basis. It is constantly on my my mind how foolish it really is if there is another alternative.

Bottom line, the way it looks to me---Lancemart is doing a good job of managing his grazing and seems to be utilizing his resources with better management than many of us do. The size and location of his operation doesn't change that, Caustic. All of us should do the best we can with what we have to work with, no matter where it is. Especially if we're not even familiar with their area. I'd hate to think that I had somebody from Rhode Island trying to tell me how to manage my pastures. And then calling me names if I disagreed.

I'm sure that many of the rest of you do a good job of managing your pastures, too. Just in a different way than Lancemart does. Tractors at $30-40,000, burning $2.00 diesel, pulling an $8,000 shredder or spraying $70 a jug chemical with a $4,000 sprayer is also an effective means of controlling weeds. It just wouldn't be my first choice. I'd rather be more like Lancemart.

Caustic, whether you ever choose to admit it or not, cattle graze weeds! That's a fact! Not all weeds, but the more of them that we can graze, the less money we have to spend on controlling them. Lancemart is doing a good job of controlling his through grazing. I don't have any trouble admitting that he's doing a better job than I do. Maybe even a better job than you do, Caustic. A real cattleman should be able to admit when he's wrong. If he doesn't, he is doomed to making the same mistakes over and over again.

 

[lancemart]

Allright Goober your tryin I give you that. If land is as valuable as you say it is there why don't you sell out and move to a state where you can live the life style you want. Don't say my job cause ther are jobs in all fifty states. All you got to do is reach down and find a set of cojones.

Dear Caustic Burno,
It is not that easy. I am a New Englander and I enjoy many parts of the country, including Texas, I have been to Houston several times, Florida many, Oregon, Washington, Ohio , Colorado, California and many more states, but there is nothing like home. This is my home, I love the 4 Seasons and I enjoy the people here. I am not criticizing any other state, it is what I like, it is what I am accustomed to. I would have no problem moving, and I do not have a job working for anyone. I never worked for anyone except myself. So it is not finding a set of cojones to move.
So it is not that. I am a true New Englander and there is no place like home.

 

[Caustic Burno]

http://texnat.tamu.edu/cmplants/toxic/p ... lobur.html

 

[Capt Call]

"Weed" is a man-made word; plants do not care who their neighbors are. Plants are rooted to the ground and cannot run away so they must protect themselves by making sharp spines or poison for defense, enduring late frost and early snow, severe wind, drought, and flood. Survival tactics are keen and those that can grow, reproduce, and compete in an open niche are rewarded. Some plants produce 500,000 seeds per plant and then disperse them by wind, water, your socks, wildlife hair, birds, the mud in car and bike tire treads. More aggressive weeds produce seeds besides spreading by a vegetative root system and some can even poison other plants around them.
Weeds are symptoms that there is an underlying problem. Typical problems are drought, disturbed soil (construction), poor soil quality, fire, flood, overgrazing, over-rest, and poor land management, which remove competitive species, leaving open niches. A noxious weed requires minimal introduction to invade and thrive in an open niche. Americans are notorious for wanting instant gratification and usually get an over-the-counter chemical to "kill the symptom" without asking why symptoms are growing there and "what is the real problem?"
Weeds (symptoms) are indicators that land health is stressed. Looking beyond symptoms, land health is measured by four ecosystem functions: water cycle, mineral cycle, energy flow, and succession of the plant community. The real problem lies in one or more of these categories and land managers may review land use goals to see which category needs to be augmented.
Stability begins in the soil. All plant life above and microbial life below with micro- and macro- fauna depend on soil health and available nutrients. When noxious weeds are seen in full flower, the land manager is two years late. He should have been tending to the soil much earlier. Small mammals, insects, birds, reptiles, wildlife, livestock, and people depend on production from the soil, and humans manage these resources. Stability in the soil has a domino effect through its products, continuing up through individuals, families, communities, and corresponding economics.

 

[Texan]

http://texnat.tamu.edu/cmplants/toxic/plants/buffalobur.html

Interesting link, Caustic. That certainly provides everything I ever wanted to know about Buffalobur. Thanks.

 

[preston39]

Maybe Caustic will apologize to you.

I doubt that will happen I hate to bust your bubble but an acre is not a pasture lawn maybe ,small lot at best. Cattle eat grass will browse once in a while on leaves, love collar greens turnips and vegatables. So if your cows are eatin weeds there are dang hungry you better break out that cub cadet and pump garden sprayer and get after them pastures ROTFLMAO.
Maybe old peanut the bull is so bored he is eating weeds , nothing else to do.

Yeah, Caustic. I kinda doubt that apology will ever happen, too. But I thought you deserved a chance at it for calling him names and making fun of him instead of admitting you were wrong. But since you elected not to, I'll go ahead and put in my two cents worth---


The fact is, a lot of cattle in this country graze weeds from time to time. Many of the early season grazing leases for stocker cattle in this country consist primarily of lush green weeds. Maybe you should tell the guys that run thousands of calves on weeds getting them ready for summer grass that their calves just won't eat weeds, according to Caustic Burno. Truth is, cattle will eat most grassy weeds and will also eat many problem broadleaf weeds like buttercup and others if you can graze them before they get too tall. It's a simple fact, but weeds are free until we start spending money on them. A lot of cattle in this country do good on weeds. So do the cattlemen that choose to utilize them before they throw money at them.

I guess poor folks has got poor ways, but I try to graze weeds hard early in the year. I know a lot of you can afford to spray all of your pastures and spread seed and fertilizer in all of them every year, but all of us don't operate like that. My cows don't know the difference between two inch buttercup and two inch clover. I do, because the buttercup is free and I have a brief window of time to use it before it gets too big and unpalatable. Then, it just becomes another invasive weed. Isn't grazing some of it better than spending money on it? My problem is that, unlike Lancemart, I just can't (or don't) concentrate enough cattle in that area to knock them all out. Young weeds also provide early season protein for me. Thank goodness for that. That's protein that doesn't have to come out of a sack. And if a cow only pulls a weed up and spits it back out, I feel like I have done a better job than spending money out of my pocket to control that weed. That's not really all that hard to figure, is it?

Some of you seem to think that manicuring your pastures with chemicals and shredding/bushhogging is the only way to operate. Many of us choose to spend our resources on things other than chemicals, diesel, and wearing out equipment. Don't get me wrong---I do plenty of shredding and use my share of chemicals, too. But I wouldn't if I could make a cow eat those weeds and not hurt production out of her. Being a low-cost producer obviously isn't something that many of you are familiar with. And I realize that many of you don't even care about learning. But running tractors over land adds a tremendous amount of expense to your annual cow costs. Of course, I realize that some of you don't ever figure things like annual cow costs. But every time I shred pastures, I can't help but think of what it is costing me on a per cow basis. It is constantly on my my mind how foolish it really is if there is another alternative.

Bottom line, the way it looks to me---Lancemart is doing a good job of managing his grazing and seems to be utilizing his resources with better management than many of us do. The size and location of his operation doesn't change that, Caustic. All of us should do the best we can with what we have to work with, no matter where it is. Especially if we're not even familiar with their area. I'd hate to think that I had somebody from Rhode Island trying to tell me how to manage my pastures. And then calling me names if I disagreed.

I'm sure that many of the rest of you do a good job of managing your pastures, too. Just in a different way than Lancemart does. Tractors at $30-40,000, burning $2.00 diesel, pulling an $8,000 shredder or spraying $70 a jug chemical with a $4,000 sprayer is also an effective means of controlling weeds. It just wouldn't be my first choice. I'd rather be more like Lancemart.

Caustic, whether you ever choose to admit it or not, cattle graze weeds! That's a fact! Not all weeds, but the more of them that we can graze, the less money we have to spend on controlling them. Lancemart is doing a good job of controlling his through grazing. I don't have any trouble admitting that he's doing a better job than I do. Maybe even a better job than you do, Caustic. A real cattleman should be able to admit when he's wrong. If he doesn't, he is doomed to making the same mistakes over and over again.

=======
Texan,
You are absolutely correct. Cows seem to get into moods and head for the scrubby areas and chow down...there is a reddish type weed with small seed tops that have briars on them round these parts that will stick your hand...cows go out of their way to eat 'em. I can't believe it when I see the cows go out of the pasture and get into a over grown area..... ready for the bush hog treatment... and eat away. Don't let anyone tell you that cows will not eat certain weeds, leaves and young bushes...they will.