Hello Bill,
Thanks for the direction to Linda and your comments.
Regarding turf species:
Orchard grass, though a great forage producer, and probably excellent
habitat for predatory insect species, is pretty rank for an underfoot
turf in a U-pick orchard. I'd like to find something more "dwarfing,"
hence the hope of finding an endophyte-free ryegrass. Do we have any
New Zealanders or Oregon growers (where grass seed is produced) on the
list who are familiar with forage grasses there, esp. the ryegrasses?
Regarding orchard floor grazing management:
Wow! The sheep in your experiment survived exposure to cherries -
prunus! All the years I raised sheep commercially, prunus species -
ornamental and fruiting - were among those species I did not plant on
our farm for fear of poisoning the sheep.
Very briefly, in response to your comments about negative impacts on
the orchard:
When sheep have been trained to electric fence from their first day out
of the lambing jugs (4-5 days through 10 days old) they are very
effectively controlled for the rest of their lives with electric
fencing. (I am not talking about just the 2 strand typical to fencing
of beef cattle. ) An orchardist can't push a mature, untrained flock
through an orchard and expect no damage. It takes time to develop a
well mannered flock which understands the concept of symbiosis and
"sustainability;" sheep are smarter than reputed. Since this is not a
sheep list, contact me off list if any want to discuss the sheep in
relation to orchards further. I want to try orchard grazing.
Regarding fertility management in the orchard:
Bill, with your comments, we morph to a fertility management
discussion, which would be nice to have more input about from other
listers. I will discuss these with Linda if I find her, but perhaps
you know:
Did the experiment include any soil sampling before and after the sheep
+ orchardgrass/trefoil to assess the nutritional contribution to the
orchard and soil compaction? Compared to other animal manures, sheep
manure has a very high level of potassium & phosporous in relation to
its nitrogen, which should be appropriate to tree fruit. And, I'm
wondering if the amount of nitrogen that trefoil produces would be
advised with tree fruit? What was the response of the cherry orchard
to it? Did the trefoil's deep rooting manner counteract any existing
compaction problems in the subsoil that come with orchard management
via mechanization?
Thanks much!
D. Del Boca
N.W. Washington State
On Monday, June 25, 2007, at 10:09 AM, Bill Howell wrote:
Several years ago we worked with Linda Hardesty of WSU's Department of
Natural Resource Sciences on a LISA grant to study the potential of
using
sheep to control under story growth in a mature cherry orchard. The
pasture
treatments were - 1. what existed naturally, 2. a planted mixture of
orchard
grass and Bird's foot trefoil. Grazed and non-grazed plots were set
up for
each treatment. You should contact Linda ([EMAIL PROTECTED] ) for
more
advice on forage for sheep in an orchard setting for Western
Washington.
A larger part of the experiment for us was convincing sheep not to eat
cherry foliage. Those efforts included barriers (movable pens,
fencing,
head elevation restrictors for the sheep) and aversion training
(similar to
what some alcoholics might endure to wean themselves from the bottle).
We
only had problems with debarking when the animals were allowed to stay
in
the orchard for extended periods of time. It was best only to allow
them in
the orchard for short feeding cycles. Bedding down was best allowed
in a
nearby pen.
All in all, it was a very interesting study. However, in the end I
found
the effort more than the wool and meat were worth. I valued my trees
as
significantly more important than the small livestock operation.
Someone
else might figure out a better way. Linda tells me she knows of a few
growers who allow sheepherders to sweep their flocks through large
orchards
in the fall to clean up weeds, leaves and fruit drops.
Bill Howell
Yakima Valley, WA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stina Booth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Apple-Crop" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 1970 3:54 AM
Subject: Re: Apple-Crop: Referral needed
I tried sheep under my full sized pear trees, and ended up having to
put fences around each tree as the sheep were climbing up in the tree
to eat the young fruit and the leaves. I pulled the sheep before they
could girdle the bark. I got mixed results as far as mowing, and as I
am an orchardist, not a livestockist, the sheep were small when they
went to slaughter. Maybe others have had better results, but I found
it cheaper and easier to buy lamb from my neighbor, and continue to
use
my mower in the orchard. Best of luck.
Stina Booth
Booth Canyon Orchard
Twisp, Washington
On Friday, June 22, 2007, at 08:02 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hello Listers:
Can anyone refer me to a turf specialist in USDA Extension so that I
can find these answers?
There was a USDA SARE project completed a number of years ago which
demonstrated the potential to take income from two farm enterprises:
Trellised tree fruit grown over a grass orchard floor grazed by
Sheep.
Sounds impossible, I know, but it was successful as well as organic,
and it reduced floor maintenance considerably.
What I would like to know is what was/were the grass(es) used. Here
is why. Sheep are vulnerable to endophyte toxicity which is common
in
some grass species, therefore the species/varieties of grasses must
be
endophyte free. I suspect the answer will be one or more of the rye
grasses which I understand are used for grazing in New Zealand. It
needs also to be hardy in Zone 6-7.
I would also hope that any such endophyte free grass(es) be something
more manageable than the heavy producing forage varieties used for
green chop and hay production so that it is possible to use power
mowers if necessary, esp. as the harvest season approaches after the
sheep have been pulled off.
Thanks you kindly!
D. Del Boca
N.W. Washington State
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The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard
<http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon
Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not
represent
"official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility
for
the content.
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The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard
<http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon
Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent
"official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for
the content.
