Adaptive Grazing 101: What You Should Do About "Weeds"

In Part 24 of Pasture Project’s video series on adaptive grazing, we focus on plant species commonly referred to as weeds and their importance to pasture health. Under adaptive grazing, cattle learn to eat these plants, and many “weed” species are full of important secondary metabolites. Thanks to Dr. Allen Williams (Pasture Project & Grass Fed Insights, LLC) and Judy and Steve Freeman (Woods Fork Cattle Company) for their contributions to this video.
Filming and editing by Windborne Media.

[@kevinmcgrath1052]

Excellent presentation

[@armymobilityofficer9099]

I am in North Alabama. Blackberries are taking over my pasture. Suggestions?

[@manfredeidelloth8059]

Add Goats to your system.

[@armymobilityofficer9099]

@@manfredeidelloth8059 I am looking at goats or sheep this Spring. I have a 5 strand barb wire and my neighbors to the North have woven wire. I am in the process of running electric around the entire 80 acres.

[@Digger927]

I love this stuff but there's a real issue here with a false statement that nature never creates a mono-culture, it does it all the time. Red cedars will definitely create a mono-culture, so will aspen...serecia lespedeeza...shall I go on?

[@WallaceCenter]

You raise an interesting point! There's definitely room for nuance here - although both red cedars and lespedeza tend to form mono-cultures only after some human-caused disruption (ie fire suppression, introduction of an invasive).
I think Allen's broader point is that there is strength and resilience in poly-cultures!

[@WallaceCenter]

But definitely interested in your perspective and experience.

[@Digger927]

@@WallaceCenter Come over to KS sometime, I'll show you cedar groves that came in naturally and just smothered everything else out where no human intervention took place. Same with serecia, it just happens in nature. I get the point (and it's a good one) that diversity is generally healthy...it's just that it's gotten popular for experts to throw this claim out there that nature doesn't grow mono-cultures, it's not accurate and it bugs me. I would agree that most of those instances I can think of are not healthy environments, they're usually biological deserts.

[@02Huntet]

Brent I had the nrcs come out to my place in sc Kansas and look for leseperdia they do want to help with it- maybe they could you also

[@Gibbons3457]

@@Digger927 Can you be sure that those monocultures are natural ecosystems or are the result of ecological damage. It sounds like something is missing from the ecosystem if one species over dominating to the point of exclusivity. Biodiversity just doesn't tend to select for monocultures over the long term, they tend to be very unstable and vulnerable ecosystems because they lack the resilience that a diverse landscape inherently has, something is always trying to move in on an available niche. I note that one of your examples is an invasive species in the US, it would make sense that it is creating a monoculture because it is active in an ecosystem where it has no natural competition.