Post by david on Jan 6, 2014 14:05:22 GMT -5
Has anyone tried raising Jerusalem Artichokes as a major source of cattle feed? I tried a small patch of them last year, and they did quite well - very little weeding and fertilizer, rapid growth, and they are essentially perennials, so no replanting needed. I am hoping to plant a much larger patch this coming spring that will hopefully supply enough tops and tubers to get my cow through the winter.
In our climate, the soil does not freeze during the winter, so I should be able to dig tubers all winter long, which eliminates the need for a storage system for the tubers. I am hoping to harvest the tops while still green, run them through a shredder, and ensile them in garbage bags.
The tubers, on a dry matter basis, are supposed to be very digestible, and roughly the equivalent of grain in energy value. Trials in Oregon showed a tuber dry matter yield per acre of nearly 10 tons! ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/5872/SR?sequence=1
A major source of information on how to do this has been the book "Keeping One Cow" published in 1884. It is a collection of essays on how to care for a milk cow written by different backyard farmers around the country. One chapter describes the use of Jerusalem artichokes as a major source of cattle feed. You can read the book for free on google e-books, and its a real treasure.
books.google.com/books/about/Keeping_One_Cow.html?id=bzJIAAAAIAAJ
Anyhow, all of that is just theory at this point- does anyone have any practical experiences to share? I know it sounds like a lot of work, but anytime I can use my own labor to save a dollar, I'm gonna do it!
In our climate, the soil does not freeze during the winter, so I should be able to dig tubers all winter long, which eliminates the need for a storage system for the tubers. I am hoping to harvest the tops while still green, run them through a shredder, and ensile them in garbage bags.
The tubers, on a dry matter basis, are supposed to be very digestible, and roughly the equivalent of grain in energy value. Trials in Oregon showed a tuber dry matter yield per acre of nearly 10 tons! ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/5872/SR?sequence=1
A major source of information on how to do this has been the book "Keeping One Cow" published in 1884. It is a collection of essays on how to care for a milk cow written by different backyard farmers around the country. One chapter describes the use of Jerusalem artichokes as a major source of cattle feed. You can read the book for free on google e-books, and its a real treasure.
books.google.com/books/about/Keeping_One_Cow.html?id=bzJIAAAAIAAJ
Anyhow, all of that is just theory at this point- does anyone have any practical experiences to share? I know it sounds like a lot of work, but anytime I can use my own labor to save a dollar, I'm gonna do it!