8 Feb 2012, Comments (0)

Molasses is NOT the Silver Bullet

Author: kvoth

Don't spray molasse on your weeds. You'll just make a gooey mess in your pastures!

People have been a little confused about the use of molasses in the training process.  Some think that just spraying molasses on their weeds in pasture will get cows to eat them, and have even called me to ask what ratio of water to molasses I use, so they can fill their sprayers.  What I tell them is that molasses is not the silver bullet, and that it’s the training process itself that is really important.  Here’s how I know:

Back in 2006 a Montana researcher commented on training cows to eat weeds and stated that it would be great if molasses were the silver bullet.  I got a little perturbed and decided that I needed to run a test to demonstrate the importance of training over the use of molasses. (more…)

3 Feb 2012, Comments (0)

In the News!

Author: kvoth

Terri Adams of the Prairie Star recently interviewed me after an article they ran about the Montana Farmer’s Union project got a lot of interest.  You can read the article here.

Jane Graham wrote an article about my time in Virginia at the Virginia Forage and Grasslands Council Winter Forage Meetings.  Here’s the article.  An earlier article by Jane also appears in American Farm.

2 Feb 2012, Comments (0)

How to Teach Your Cow To Eat Weeds

Author: kvoth

In the afternoon portion of my presentation at the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council Meetings (January 17 – 20) I talked about how to train cows to eat weeds.  Here are the slides with notes and links to videos:  HowToTrainYourCow

2 Feb 2012, Comments (0)

Science and Theory of Weed Grazing

Author: kvoth

I spent January 17 – 20 with folks from Virginia Tech and the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council.  Every day we went to a new town and put on a series of presentations for their Winter Forage Meetings.  It seemed like there were a minimum of 100 people at each place, and generally more than that.  I told the organizers that it was like running away with the circus.  Each day we set up the big top, put on the show, dismantled the big top and headed to the next venue for a quick night’s rest before doing it all again.  A little grueling, but I met so many great people and learned a lot.

Chris Teutsch recorded my talks with the slides and as soon as they’re up I’ll share a link to them.  In the meantime, here is a copy of  the slides for my morning talk with speaker notes and links to videos.  It will almost be like being there:  ScienceAndTheoryOfWeedGrazing

5 Jan 2012, Comments (0)

Montana Cows Love Weeds!

Author: kvoth

The Montana Farmer’s Union used my training method this past summer to help three different ranchers teach cattle to eat Canada Thistle.  Chris Christiaens of MFU says, “It is working!”  According to an article in the Prairie Star, Christiaens says that the cattle kept the plant grazed to about 5 inches through the summer.

Like all educated cows, the trainees in this program went on to add other weeds to their diet.  In this case they started grazing musk thistle and bull thistle.  According to the Prairie Star article, eveyone involved was amazed at how quickly the cattle adapted to their diets, and they are looking forward to watching the trained cows teach their calves. (more…)

  • Kathy Voth, Livestock for Landscapes

  • Kathy Voth, Livestock for Landscapes

  • Website: livestockforlandscapes.com
  • In 2004, I developed a method for training cows to eat weeds in as little as 10 hours over 10 days. The training process is just a matter of understanding how animals choose what to eat and applying some simple behavioral principles. Now the cattle I train eat every bit as much variety as my goats ever did and they do it without all the hassle of fencing. I use this blog to share information about what I learn as I continue to train cows and manage them to improve rancher profitability and landscape sustainability.
  • YouTube: kathyvoth