Not ' Wind ' ...... but 'Sheep in the Willows.'

[Bury the Trash]

Add some willows to will help stop water runoff,air up ground and provide minerals.
I'm not quite sure how it would work, i mean Willow is relatively quick and easy to establish ( not near drains)

... but surely they would need fencing off or be eaten to death especially in a dry time.... ...which would scummer the plan
Apart from that it sounds a good idea in as far as useful silviculture goes.....

https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/could-willow-be-the-answer-to-better-lamb-growth-100445

Would certainly get some browny greeny points

Happy Days.

 

[Nithsdale]

And if the sheep didn't strip the bark and kill the willow...

High summer will see a haven of flies increasing strike risk...

 

[Bury the Trash]

..ahh but for reducing strike risk i have a cunning plan ...

Presumably they will have to eat a bit of them Willows to get them minerals...

 

[Ysgythan]

I know, we could have a row of plants along the field margins that the sheep could browse through a fence which stopped them getting at the heart of the plant and killing it. We could call it a heart edge, or headge for short...

 

[Nithsdale]

..ahh but for reducing strike risk i have a cunning plan ...

What's that?? In a vegan friendly style, asking the flies politely to not bother the little sheepies?

 

[Bury the Trash]

What's that?? In a vegan friendly style, asking the flies politely to not bother the little sheepies?

Exlana

 

[Bury the Trash]

I know, we could have a row of plants along the field margins that the sheep could browse through a fence which stopped them getting at the heart of the plant and killing it. We could call it a heart edge, or headge for short...

8.80.30 negates the need for a lower side pass with the 'headge' trimmer

 

[Bury the Trash]

the point you luddites guys are missing is the free cobalt and zinc in willow ....specifically it seems....

could be no more bolussing..

 

[Ysgythan]

the point you luddites guys are missing is the free cobalt and zinc in willow ....specifically it seems....

could be no more bolussing..

I live on a wet farm with 1-2 acre paddocks. They have willow on tap...

 

[Bury the Trash]

I live on a wet farm with 1-2 acre paddocks. They have willow on tap...

Jolly good.

Got some natural type on the heavier lower ground here.

boy do they love the green shoots in spring on newly planted hybrid cuttings..

 

[Cowgirl]

Our young cattle do very well in our willow plantations in summer - a bit wet for winter. Flies are a problem though.

 

[dogjon]

I got interested in trees for fodder years ago. If you google on fodder willows you'll find some pretty cool articles and youtube videos mainly from NZ and Oz. Also I bought a little book from NZ about 10 years ago "Growing Poplar and Willow Trees on Farms" that had a lot of good basic info in it. It is now available free online. Depending on when it is cut, Willow has a feed value comparable to alfalfa plus some anthelmintic properties due to the "good" tannins. We cut some large Ash for firewood each year and started falling them in late summer after our grass is gone for the green fodder. Not sure what the nutritional feed value of Ash is but the sheep love it. One word of caution about falling larger trees for feed is that you will need to have the sheep completely out of the field. They learn to flock to the sound of a chainsaw very quickly.

 

[GeorgeK]

Hope we will get paid for willows, turn my back on ours for a year and bits have dropped off and are sprouting everywhere in the ditches, hedges, coming out into the fields
I'll be rich! I bet they don't store much carbon though, they sure don't seem to have much energy inside when I try and burn them

 

[Bury the Trash]

Hope we will get paid for willows, turn my back on ours for a year and bits have dropped off and are sprouting everywhere in the ditches, hedges, coming out into the fields
I'll be rich! I bet they don't store much carbon though, they sure don't seem to have much energy inside when I try and burn them

I lack patience so i like willow and poplar as they come on quick without too much faff .... unless it's very dry like last spring lost a fair few newly planted ones then.
They hold banks in and quick screening if needed . Will survive on dry ground as well actually, but they need to be well established in that situation.
But like you say not quite so good as other stuff for firing.

 

[primmiemoo]

Takes four years seasoning before withies are suitable to burn - they're that wet! It gives a comforting heat when mixed in with sycamore, ime.

Once upon a time, it was fine to graze damp, willow dominant areas of the farm boundaries, and it was obvious the cattle liked the browse. It would be great to restart the practice, as it's regressing to an area of little conservation value - which is a shame.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Yeah , good bit of summer keep on that sort of area,
I wonder if something like willow growing might stop a few of them snails that perpertrate fluke possibly by reducing surface pools.

But not it in a summer like 2012 I guess

 

[primmiemoo]

Yeah , good bit of summer keep on that sort of area,
I wonder if something like willow growing might stop a few of them snails that perpertrate fluke possibly by reducing surface pools.

But not it in a summer like 2012 I guess

Good point. I can't remember there being a bullock or cow showing having been affected by fluke having grazed and browsed around there. Obviously they were dosed with a flukicide once/year, but nothing looked sick.
Perhaps it was they were browsing more than grazing?

It did get a touch stoggy in 2012. I don't think they were out there that long, but they voted to stay on drier ground rather earlier than usual.

 

[Goweresque]

Takes four years seasoning before withies are suitable to burn - they're that wet! It gives a comforting heat when mixed in with sycamore, ime.

Thats news to me, I've always burned willow fine after about 18 months. Cut late one winter use at the start of the winter after next. In fact I'd say if you leave willow out in the open for 4 years the smaller stuff will start to rot, the bark will all be falling off certainly.

 

[Goweresque]

On the whole 'using trees as fodder' issue, surely there would need to be a change in the law, or at least cross compliance rules? As it stands you're forbidden from cutting a single branch off a tree outside the hedge cutting open period, and even if that was changed there's still the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 that makes it an offence to disturb a nest during nesting season, so the idea that farmers are going to start cutting down swathes of leafy material to feed to livestock in spring or summer is a bit of a problem, legally speaking.

 

[primmiemoo]

Thats news to me, I've always burned willow fine after about 18 months. Cut one winter use the winter after next. In fact I'd say if you leave willow out in the open for 4 years the smaller stuff will start to rot, the bark will all be falling off certainly.

Would it be the same variety? The moss encrusted wood that's cut out here is mostly goat and grey willow, and is wet. It's logged, and stored under cover, so it dries out. If it were left out, it'd take root