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.
Nitrate toxicity is a non-infections and potentially lethal condition whereby cattle consume forages, feedstuffs, or water sources with excessive nitrate concentrations.
You can determine rental rates for pasturing cattle and sheep by using the average cost in an area and then factoring in variables such as animal size, pasture quality, work done by each party and lease length.
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.
Alternative feeds can provide beef producers with economical alternatives to traditional feedstuffs. There are pitfalls, however, and special care must be taken to ensure the alternative feeds are safe.
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