Poisonous plants are a major cause of economic loss to the livestock industry. Two poisonous plants common to Oregon are poison hemlock and Western water hemlock. Ingestion of either by humans or livestock typically results in death.
Silage-making has been used to reduce the concentrations of toxins in a variety of crops. But in the case of poison hemlock, the opposite is true — making silage out of it actually increases one of its toxic alkaloids.
Ruijun Qin, an Oregon State University Extension Service soil scientist and assistant professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences, started a research project to uncover opportunities for viable rotational crops to use with onions and potatoes.
Forage quality of common pasture weeds was determined through laboratory testing to compare feed value of weeds to desirable forage species and nutrient requirements for grazing livestock.
Shelby Filley, Andy Hulting, Amy Peters |
May 2010 |
Article
In 2018, the the Western Cover Crop Council (WCCC) was formed to facilitate and enhance communication and collaboration among growers, Extension agents, researchers and other agricultural professionals.