Weed Eating Cows
Educated cows eat weeds.
In a recent newsletter from Wyatt Prescott, Executive Director of the Idaho Cattlemen’s Association, there was an article stating that “In 2004, Kathy Voth invented a method for training cows to eat weeds, after her idea grew from the responses of ranchers when she suggested they use goats or sheep to manage weeds. Using discoveries made by researchers at Utah State University, and decades of animal behavior studies, Voth put together a very logical set of steps for teaching cows to eat weeds. I called Wyatt and asked for an explanation: “That was just a fun piece but it is absolutely true. There is a lot of work being done to try and train cattle to do more of their targeted grazing in targeting invasive species to help make the habitat more efficient for wildlife and more conducive for growing forages that all animals utilize. it is interesting work where producers are actually training cattle to target invasive species. It is just another interesting way that you can use livestock as a tool out there on the landscape.”
