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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