new undeveloped pasture question

[qcow]

What is considered best practice or acceptable practice when you are developing a new pasture from old forest/bramble land?





Do you worry about every single poisonous weed on it?



Do you Seed it?



Do you Mow it without cows on it until the grass is the dominate plant?



I have a few acres of mixed oak tree, black berry, and dozens of native weeds and grasses that I want to put my cows on but I was walking the land and did see hemlock and yellow star thistle and a few other things besides. Was wondering if everyone just trusts the cow is not going to eat this as long as they supplement with Alfalfa or if you would wait a develope the area over the next year?

[bigredcow]

I think, with the nature of cows and their eating habits, grass isn't likely to move in and establish Itself if the cows are already there.

Goats might clear out the brush, then grass can be seeded. Or hit it with a brush hog, disc and reseed the trouble spots.

[rosalind]

No, we don't worry about every little weed. If there's a patch of something toxic, doesn't hurt to mow/cut/control that. But, a weed here or there doesn't bother cows.

That's as long as they're not starving - starving cows will eat toxic plants.

Interseeding into woodlands is tricky - hard to accomplish due to shade and trees stealing moisture.

There are books and articles on Silvopasture now, you can look those up for recommendations.

[Kelsey]

Yes, there are plants that cows will eat despite them being toxic,.even with plenty of forage available.

Some, like English laurel and wild cherries, have a sweet taste due to the cyanide so they appeal to cows. They're especially toxic if wilted.

Rhododendrons are very toxic and cows will go after them.
Cows will eat pine needles and lupine, which cause abortions.

These are just a couple examples that we have locally; you'll want to find out specifically what toxic plants grow in your field, and what cows will readily eat.

There are also toxic weeds that cows avoid unless they are lacking feed, such as tansy ragwort. However, if the field is mowed without removing the tansy ragwort first, they may inadvertently eat a couple dry leaves as they can't distinguish it in that form.
Unfortunately it only takes a few tansy ragwort leaves to cause liver damage, and it's cumulative over the years. (And eating a whole plant will kill a cow).

[rosalind]

For a contrasting opinion, I can say that our forests are full of Ponderosa Pine, chokecherry, and lupine. Death camas, hoary alyssum, dalmation toadflax, etc - I could go on and on with potentially toxic plants. We've never lost a cow, neither have our neighbors. We live in open range country, too, so I know pretty much everyone has their cows out on fields with these plants as well.

It's a topic worth discussing, and always good to know what's out there that your animals can get into... But at least personally, it's not high on my list of things to worry about. Disease would be something I'd be much more worried about - what wild deer and elk are carrying around and what's in the soil. Bluetongue, Neospora, Blackleg, etc. - those are what I see killing cows. And mineral deficiencies, like selenium (animals can withstand a lot of stress, even eating toxic plants, if they have strong immune systems and a healthy mineral balance in their bodies).