Controlling field bindweed by grazing with sheep
1947
Stahler, L.M. | Carlson, A.E.
1. Experiments were conducted at Lamberton, Minn., from 1939 to 1944 to determine the effectiveness of grazing sheep in controlling bindweed on infested land sown to several crops. 2. A combination of fall-sown wheat and rye grazed in May and June, followed by Sudan grass grazed in July and August, consistently eliminated bindweed in two seasons. 3. The grazing of perennial pasture mixtures consisting of alfalfa and bromegrass or alfalfa and reed canarygrass did not eliminate bindweed in any of three experiments. 4. The bindweed was not eradicated in ungrazed plots of rye and wheat harvested for grain, and plots of alfalfa-bromegrass and alfalfa-reed canarygrass mixtures cut for hay. 5. The grazing of pure bindweed reduced the stand somewhat, but this practice was much less effective than was the grazing of infested land on which crops were being grown. 6. Sheep grazed the bindweed in preference to wheat, rye, or Sudan grass. Rye was more palatable than was wheat. They grazed alfalfa, bromegrass, or bindweed without discrimination but preferred these to reed canarygrass. Bindweed growing with wheat, Sudan grass, or rye is grazed in preference to that grown alone in full sunlight. 7. Yields of clipped forage of the crops and crop mixtures used in this investigation were higher than yields from adjacent well-established bluegrass pasture. The crude protein content was high in all of the clipped herbage.
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