Archives: October 2011

28 Oct 2011, Comments (0)

Adjusting Assumptions

Author: kvoth

Heifer eats spiny pigweed

Sometimes our trainees are doing just what they’re supposed to.  It’s our assumptions that make us think things aren’t going quite right.  Here’s an example, along with a video I uploaded to Youtube to help you with your own assumptions about cows trying a new weed.

Chuck Talbott, the Ag Agent for Putnam County, West Virginia, wrote me in early August about a training demonstration he put on.  He’d gone through the whole training process with 13 replacement heifers.  During the training the heifers would eat their snack and then head back to pasture to eat things he didn’t expect them to eat like lambsquarters, pre-bloom curly and smooth dock, and spiny pig weed.  The pig weed was actually the target weed for this demonstration. Everything was going well until the day he was to introduce the weeds. (more…)

28 Oct 2011, Comments (0)

Your Body Language Matters

Author: kvoth
Participants at the CCCIPC Cows Eat Weeds presentation watch Wendy Braim’s cattle eat spotted knapweed

Here’s another good lesson from my work with the folks in British Columbia this summer.  Cows understand what you’re saying with your body, even when you think you’re saying nothing at all.

I was working with the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Invasive Plant Committee on coaching programs and presentations.  One of my partner ranchers, Wendy Braim,  wanted to train some cow calf pairs to eat spotted knapweed.  The pasture she was working in had some of that weed, and some good stands of Canada thistle as well.  Spotted knapweed was one of the first weeds I trained cows to eat, and all the cows I’ve trained since have shown me it’s one of their favorite foods.  So, I put together a training plan for my BC Rancher and then waited to hear back about her success.

But the call I got wasn’t what I expected.   (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