Naturally Occurring Forage Chains By Abram Bowerman

SPICKARD, Missouri:

When I think of a forage chain, I like to think of each link of a chain as a complete loop of nutrition, a community of plants with each filling its place. When one member is inactive, the rest of the plant community steps up to fill the void. Nature always provides something as long as we control stocking rates and leave the plow, bush hog and herbicide in the shed.

Every plant on earth has a beneficial purpose. Some “weeds” just get misused and a lot of other weeds are not utilized at all. By adding more species of grazers we can begin to use more of the forage species God has given us. Each species of herbivore has its own preferred forages and does best when allowed to consume a diet suited to its needs.

Each plant species has its own mineral profile and given enough for- age diversity, livestock can go a long way in balancing their mineral needs. If your sheep are not eating a certain weed do not panic, change your management, or just be patient, that weed may end up on the menu yet. If we focus on grazing the desirable species in a way that favors those plants, they will generally grow out the less appreciated weeds over time.

Each plant species has a unique place to fill in the forage chain. The more species we have the stronger the chain becomes. Species multiplication won’t happen just because we throw more seed out on the pasture. Species diversification is best accomplished through livestock impact; but this discussion is going to center around the use of our available weeds, assuming you already have a lot of diversity.

Each plant has its own ideal time to nourish your livestock. Here in north central Missouri the forage chain may begin in the early spring with fescue, yellow dock, and dandelion, to name a few. Dock and dandelion both cleanse the bloodstream and are a great liver tonic.

As the weather warms and we pass last frost, fescue gets replaced by other grasses growing in the same pasture. At this point clovers, com- pass plant, black eyed Susan, asters and chicory help to form a loop of the chain. Trees and bushes have leafed by now and provide their own special nutrients.

Did you know chicory and all blue flowering plants are high in copper and copper delivered in plant life is the ultimate way to supplement?

As we progress into summer the weed options continue to change: rag- weed, horseweeds and ironweed come and go. Ragweed and horseweed are best before pollinating. If these weeds pollinate before they are grazed, let them go. Livestock like ragweed seed once it is mature. Ironweed needs to be in full bloom before it’s attractive. Excessive legumes can cause metabolic disturbances and physical disorders. Allowing legumes to fully mature is beneficial. 

The grass and legume component will continue to shift also. Crabgrass and foxtail grow well in July and August when the cool-season grasses are semi-dormant. Korean lespedeza can be a major forage source in August and September in a dry year. Korean Lespedeza is a non-bloating legume.

As frosts resume in the fall, fescue becomes valuable again, as long as it’s not mature. Fescue grows best in cool weather. No longer stressed by heat, the plants grow stronger and less endophyte infected. The endophyte is just a plant parasite attacking a heat stressed grass plant. Honestly fescue has no place in Missouri but since it has become a part of the local forage base I utilize it in the forage chain. This means the cool months of the year.

Have you noticed those marble sized, yellow berries hanging on horse nettle plants? Sheep and goats love these little fruits. They get ripe around first frost in the fall and hang on the plant all winter. These berries provide a durable form of carotene. Carotene is the ruminants’ basis for vitamin A synthesis.

As we move into winter, the forage choices narrow a little but that is okay; assuming the birthing season was when it should have been. Maintaining adapted livestock on frozen grass is a breeze. Trying to get stock to birth and raise strong babies on stockpile is a nightmare. Match livestock peak nutritional demands to peak nutrient availability. Your stock is the beneficiary or victim of your management and available forage.

It is possible to have some diversity in the winter diet. My goats love the red berries on buckbrush plants, especially in late winter. Again, a source of carotene. Cows, sheep, goats and pigs all benefit from acorns. Ragweed that was allowed to seed out in summer can stick above the snow. Judging from the way stock clean these stems off it must be pretty nutritious.

Rosehips are a sheep and goat delicacy. Rosehips are high in vitamin C and who doesn’t need a little extra vitamin C in the winter? Eastern red cedar is a sheep and goat favorite January through March. Red cedar stimulates the immune system and increases circulation.

Notice I did not say:
*put your cows on a fescue field in winter,
*put sheep on a dandelion dock field in spring,
*put sheep and cows on a crab- grass-foxtail field in July-August.

An effective forage chain may contain 100+ species in a year and all these species can grow on the same acre of land. As the spring dominant forages dry up, the summer forages take over and then give way to fall and winter. I find this kind of organized chaos to be much simpler than plant- ing 100 separate fields into monocultures to capture the benefits of 100 forage types. Besides, all grazers benefit from a wide variety of forages in the diet every day. Diversity is key to health, reproduction and parasite resistance.

Just don’t try to make your stock eat all the diversity at one time. Each forage species has its own window when it will be the most beneficial. Intensively manage (monitor) what the stock are eating. Adapt to circum- stances, some paddocks will have more forage species on the menu. Paddock size will need to vary, you may need to mix up the rotation to take advantage of some prime weeds. Do not let it bother you when the stock MOB down the species that are currently undesired, “think fescue mid- summer.”

What could be more exciting than a huge flower garden with 100+ species of grasses, legumes, forbs, shrubs and trees? Something is always flowering or fruiting, producing a wide range
of minerals, vitamins and immune enhancers. And having multiple species of healthy livestock allow them to harvest the bounty.

Abram Bowerman is a full time grass farmer who promotes finding natural, low labor solutions. To contact, write him at 543 NE 90th St., Spickard, MO 64679.