Yes, you can use equipment, herbicides and fertilizers to reduce your weeds and increase your grasses in pasture. But is it really cost-effective? Just a thought - maybe if your livestock ate nutritious weeds, everyone's life would be easier.
There are lots of folks worrying about this problem, wondering how agriculture today is going to be able to feed everyone in the future. The solution may not be the agriculture of today, but something much different and outside our box.
We are used to thinking about forage type, nutrition and quantity as we raise our animals, but we overlook what animals might be learning from Mom and herd mates. Since what a young animal learns about food has life-long consequences, knowing more about this process can help us be more successful managers.
Strange as it may seem, cattle producers, particularly dairy farmers, have been trying to reduce cow flatus and eructations (farts and burps) for decades...
Dave Scott of ATTRA-NCAT does another great job of outlining how to make intensive grazing work for you in just a few simple steps. Here he covers figuring out grazing periods so you get the most out of your pastures. Enjoy!
Troy has some great ideas and experience dealing with pesky knapweed. By the end of the article you might be thinking of it as an excellent forage too!
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.
