Whitetop/Hoary Cress – Whatever You Call It, Livestock Love it!
There is a lot of this white-flowering, leafy plant growing along the side of the road near my house and every time I pass it I think, “Someone needs to get some livestock down here to take advantage of this great forage!” If you’ve got it, here’s what you need to know about it.
Whitetop/Hoary Cress in pasture
My first opportunity to train cows to eat Whitetop/Hoary Cress (Card
- Published: 8 years ago on June 10, 2013
- By: Kathy Voth
- Last Modified: November 8, 2020 @ 12:50 pm
- Filed Under: Pasture Health, Weeds
- Tagged With: Cardaria draba, Hoary Cress, Weeds, Whitetop
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Kathy,
Have you done any work with cattle to train them to eat goldenrod? I am currently leasing a farm with a field that is infested with it. The cattle will nibble on it, but will eat everything else to the ground first. I am reluctant to push them to hard to eat it, as I have read that goldenrod can cause abortion in livestock.
Hi Paul,
The trainees I’ve worked with have been eating goldenrod with no ill effects since 2004. I didn’t train them to eat it. They learned to eat other things and then added it to their diet on their own. I’ve always thought of it as a very palatable plant as a result.
I pulled out all my plant books this morning and have found nothing about goldenrod causing abortion. There are some indications from back in the 40s that certain species were problems for sheep. But even those instances didn’t clearly implicate goldenrod.
How about dropping me an email at kathy@onpasture.com with your phone number and we can chat about solving your problem.
Kathy