Running...

This has been one of those weeks where I just feel like I have been running, but not accomplishing very much. It has been go ... go ... go, but not a lot of huge visible results. I guess there will be weeks like that though.

One thing that I did find today was this dandelion (it's not a weed) pictured above. It's the first one that I've seen this year and it was nice to see something so bright and beautiful on a cloudy day. It did get me thinking about dandelions as a forage though ... here is an article I found online. The nice thing about dandelions compared to the other forages I'm going to plant this spring ... I don't have to purchase seed for them and I'm sure they will eventually show up!

Here is a tidbit from the article by Christoph E. Weder Ph.D.:

"Well what does it all add up to? What is the impact of dandelions on a forage stand? For four consecutive years, the same researchers from the University of Wisconsin studied the effects of dandelions in cut hay. Their findings were interesting. First, dandelions did not normally decrease the total biomass of the forage stand. In fact under well managed pastures they added to the biomass. As for feed quality, they found that dandelions had protein values many times in excess of 18%. The only downfall was that they had higher moisture contents than other species in the stand and could affect dry down in haying situations."

Using Those Weeds For Good...

For the past few months (since I began receiving "The Stockman Grassfarmer") I have been enjoying reading the "Weed Grazing" column. Grazing weeds instead of completely eliminating all weeds is something that hit my radar this past summer when I was on a pasture walk promoted by The Practical Farmers of Iowa. The host talked about one of the pasture seed mixes that he used and the fact that it included a weed (can't remember what for the life of me). Many people on the tour were surprised that he had intentionally seeded a weed, but they all did admit that they had seen their livestock eating it and even selecting it over some grasses.

I think that proves how much of a psychological thing our fight against weeds can be. Kathy Voth, in this months issue of The Stockman Grassfarmer, relates a quote from the 1934 Book of Knowledge. It said, "Agriculture is an eternal war against weeds." Also, in the book was this line about the 'only' benefit of weeds, "is that we add to our own strength by 'vanquishing these bitter foes'." Does this have to be the case?

Of course there will always be troublesome weeds that are no good and even dangerous to our livestock, but we can't paint all weeds with the same brush. Ms. Voth writes in the article that, "many weeds are as nutritious as alfalfa". During the droughts of the late 1930's the Russian Thistle weed helped sustain many small livestock farms. In California the weed distaff thistle is often green when other grasses have given up, and it's proteins can help cattle and other ruminants keep up good levels of rumen microbes.

The article talks about using a grazing management plan to help control the weeds on your land. Of course you will never completely win the battle, but with the help of your livestock you can control the battle and possibly even enhance your pasture by letting your livestock graze certain weeds that could help sustain them in a drought.

So, what weeds do you see your livestock munching on?