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> MSU News
Across Montana, sheep make short work of weeds
August 08, 2003 -- By Suzi Taylor, MSU News Services
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| Seventeen projects of the Montana Sheep Institute are underway across the state, including on this ranch outside Missoula, where nearly 2,000 ewes and lambs are making short work of a leafy spurge infestation. |
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MISSOULA--As the sunlight creeps over the horizon on a steamy July morning, a broad hillside on the old Maloney Ranch near Missoula gleams yellow in the morning light. It's not the sun's rays, nor the hazy morning air that causes the luminescent glow--it's the rangeland's vast infestation of the noxious weed leafy spurge. Spurge is considered one of Montana's most dangerous invasive plants because it chokes out native plants and destroys habitat for fish, birds, elk and livestock.
The hillside is scattered with what at first looks like boulders. But a closer look shows that these "boulders" are actually sheep--hundreds upon hundreds of them working their way across the hillside and eating the leafy spurge.
By mid-afternoon, the band, which naturally eats weeds most animals avoid, has grazed its way across the hill. The thick yellow patches are gone, leaving behind the healthy browns and greens of good rangeland. A clear line between brown ground and yellow indicates the places where sheep have grazed versus the places they have yet to go.
This project, like 17 others across the state, was initiated by the Montana Sheep Institute, a collaborative effort of the Montana State University Extension Service, Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and the Montana Wool Growers Association. Its goal, said MSU Extension Sheep Specialist Rodney Kott, is to increase the competitiveness and profitability of Montana's wool and lamb markets, which have suffered in recent years. One of the institute's strategies is to measure the impact of grazing for large-scale weed control.
Here, just a stone's throw from Missoula, 850 ewes and their 1,100 lambs are grazing 3,000 acres near Lower Miller Creek. The sheep, owned by Pachy Burns of Big Timber, are strategically herded to the most weed-infested areas. The rate of control, said Sheep Institute project coordinator Jim Moore, can be as good or better than chemical applications. And, he said, sheep can graze in sensitive areas, such as under trees and near waterways, and in tight spots a chemical sprayer couldn't reach, such as near power lines.
Kott, Moore and other weed experts always advocate a multi-pronged attack against noxious weeds. In some cases, herbicides are the most viable option. Bio-control insects also show much promise. However, said Kott, "in a lot of places, management with sheep or goats is the only alternative. Economically, sheep are a lot cheaper than chemicals, and insects are a more long-term solution--10 to 20 years down the road."
The sheep on this hillside have been raised on spurge and actually prefer it to native grasses, said Burns. Other bands of ewes are raised on knapweed, which her sheep also prefer over rangeland plants.
Burns says the weeds are not harmful to the sheep. "I herded my own sheep for five years and noticed how much they prefer forbs over grasses," said Burns. "They become somewhat addicted to the leafy spurge, and they’ll just prefer it far over any grasses."
Burns' daughter, Piney Hardiman of Red Lodge said that the spurge is healthier than native grasses, with nearly three times the protein. "We can definitely tell the difference in the body shape of the sheep that have been grazing on spurge," she said. "They tend to gain a lot quicker. It’s more profitable for us."
On this and all other projects, the Sheep Institute records and studies the impacts of the sheep, particularly on large-scale weed infestations. They believe that, in three to four years, sheep can restore weed-infested rangeland to 70 percent of its original capacity.
"People have been controlling weeds with sheep for years," said Moore, "But we've never had the data to study what's going on. By next year, we'll be able to compare new projects with two-year projects and three-year projects."
Thus far, Sheep Institute projects have taken place near Absarokee, Baker, Big Timber, Clyde Park, Columbus, Deer Lodge, Ennis, Emigrant, Helena, Helmville, Miles City, Terry, Three Forks, Townsend, and near Quake Lake in Madison County.
One research goal is to monitor wildlife in weed-infested areas. Studies in other Western states have shown that weeds have a drastic impact on big-game populations, particularly elk, in habitat where weeds have choked out native plants. Noxious weeds also contribute to erosion, which clouds rivers and harms native fish. Public lands that are used for recreation have also fallen victim to the infestations, and land values decrease drastically when acreage is infested by weeds. In some cases, said Kott, the cost of controlling noxious weeds on a property may exceed the value of the land itself.
Mainly, Montana Sheep Institute coordinators and participants want people to know that sheep can be part of a solution to what has become a very serious problem in the West.
Like an advancing plague of locusts, weeds are slowly overtaking Western rangelands at an alarming rate of lost acreage per year. Kott stressed that the scourge of noxious weeds is not due to overgrazing in agriculture, as even pristine areas of Glacier National Park have become infested. The rapid advancement is because the non-native plants have no natural predators in the U.S.
"Weeds have a drastic effect on native plants. The weeds pretty much have a free run," he said. "How bad is the problem? It's bad."
BROADCAST NEWS DIRECTORS: Audio links are available:
Rodney Kott, MSU Extension sheep specialist, talking about sheep being a more economical and ecologically sound way of dealing with leafy spurge, 123K, 12.4 seconds
http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/ag/Kott1econ.mp3.
Rodney Kott, MSU Extension sheep specialist, talking about noxious weeds being a concern for anyone who is concerned about the out-of-doors, 69K, 7 seconds
http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/ag/Kott2noxious.mp3.
Rodney Kott, MSU Extension sheep specialist, talking about noxious weeds outcompeting native plants, 100K, 10 seconds
http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/ag/Kott3outcompete.mp3
Sounds of sheep eating spurge and baaing, 235K, 23 seconds
http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/ag/Kottsheep.mp3.
More photos are available. Email Suzi Taylor: taylor@montana.edu
Contact: Rodney Kott, (406) 994-3415
Hi-Resolution Image or PDF Available:
| [View or Download] | 1. | Seventeen projects of the Montana Sheep Institute are underway across the state, including on this ranch outside Missoula, where nearly 2,000 ewes and lambs are making short work of a leafy spurge infestation. |
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