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Thanks for joining me again for another motivating and encouraging episode of Homegrown Liberty. I love being able to do this show for you all and motivate you towards greater freedom and liberty in your lives. And today we’re going to be talking about animal fodder, but especially perennial fodder crops. Because who wouldn’t like to reduce or eliminate their animal feed bill! If that’s something you’re interested in, then this is the show for you! And since it’s going to be all about cool plants, we are going to forego the usual plant of the week and interesting things to give me more time to talk about the main topic.

News

I have a confession to make… I ordered some more trees and bushes from a nursery..  Guess what? I got a fevah! And the only prescription is more fruit trees! They were on sale! I got some apples, a grape vine and blueberry bushes. I’m working towards supplying my family with the fruits we most often like to eat. Apples, bananas, strawberries, and blueberries are the ones we eat the most. I have a banana plant that is slowly making it’s way back to life after nearly being murdered by ducks, I thought it was done for but just this past week it sent up a new leaf spike and I think it’s gonna make it after all. It’s a pup from a banana brought all the way from Thailand. I got it from a guy who speaks only a few dozen words of english and man I want that thing to make it! I also have another couple bananas that are waiting for a better home when I can finally afford to set up my large greenhouse, but are living in a 20 gallon pot at the moment. Like I said a week or so ago, the strawberries got put in the ground and are doing well. I’m pinching almost all the blossoms off to help the plants get good and established, I would pick them all off but dangit I want some strawberries this year so I’m letting some of them set fruit. The blueberries are doing well, about to stick some cuttings from them, and hopefully the new ones will get cuttings stuck soon as well. And we have some very sad news, Gene Logsdon recently passed away. I’ve read many of his books and really admired his perspective and thoughts on farming. He was one of the authors who I grew up knowing through books from my grandpa’s library. He will be missed. If you are looking for some good books, you should check out “The Gardener’s Guide to Better Soil”, “All Flesh is Grass”, and he’s written many others that are fantastic as well. I even got some of my information on one of the fodder plants that inspired this episode from Gene himself. So check out his work if you haven’t already. The Gardener’s Guide to Better Soil is one of the first books I ever read about gardening and has done much to shape my viewpoint.

Fodder Crops

Let’s get into the topic of the day! This week we are talking about something near and dear to my heart, fodder crops. These are any plant that will come back year after year either as perennials or reseeding annuals. Most of them will be perennials, a couple of them I’ll be covering aren’t perennial but very easy to keep going on your property because they’re considered weeds! Which brings up the whole concept of a weed and how we define a weed. Most people call wild plants weeds and it carries this negative connotation. I choose to not think of wild plants as weeds. I like to think of them as just plants that I might not understand. This simple paradigm shift has opened up my mind to possibilities that otherwise would have been problems. I would much rather surround myself with possibilities than problems. I’ve told the story before, maybe on the show, about yaupon holly that grows wild here all over the place and most people hate it and call it a weed. I used to think that way too. But when I decided to not treat it with hate and despite, I was able to look at in new light. I researched it a little and learned that it has a leaf that can be roasted and turned into a very nice black tea substitute. And I believe it’s the only native plant to north america that contains caffeine. Sure it grows vigorously and sometimes where I don’t want it. But it’s one of the only things green during winter here and the goats like to eat it. It’s hardy and suckers out readily and regrows after being cut to the ground. Those can be a problem, or we can design into our lives ways to make problems into solutions.

That’s the difference between my view on so called “weeds” and most people. A weed is a plant that grows large, fast, is healthy and vibrant, tough, survives drought and being cut, is hard to kill… Those are typical descriptions of awful weeds right? “I can’t kill it! It keeps coming back no matter how much and how often I cut it to the ground!!” those are the exasperated words that most people use to describe the weeds I’ll be talking about today. And they’re the exact characteristics that make them super valuable to us! Because we want hardy plants that will survive getting cut to the ground, or browsed on by our animals, we want plants that will keep coming back year after year! We want plants that will provide the protein and nutrients our animals need to not only survive, but thrive. We want plants that will make it through the worst droughts and keep producing for us no matter what. I want plants that will even serve multiple purposes, not just animal food. I want them to provide shelter, fuel, fertilizer, nutrient recycling, fencing, human food, windbreaks, privacy, security, mulch, I’m sure you get the idea.

Why Fodder Crops?

So we’ve already kind of touched on the idea behind why, but let’s kind of get a little more in depth with the why behind the whole idea.

We can plant some of these along our fencelines, braid them together as they grow and end up with living fence that will eventually replace the metal fence and be a part of the land for potentially generations with little extra maintenance than we would have invested to harvest the materials in the first place.

They can be planted somewhere that nutrients are leaving the property or otherwise potentially creating problems. Think of the downhill area from an animal housing location like a barn. Manure and urine will run off and leave the property or get into your ground water. Instead, if we capture that with these perennial growing systems, we can convert it back into products that are useful to us as animal feed, bedding for animals, mulch, all sorts of great products. So not only are we recycling the nutrients we worked hard to collect for our animals either with labor traded for money that we in turn used to buy concentrated feed like pellets or whatever bagged food you use. But we also protect our water and soil health. It’s just wasteful and irresponsible to let all that manure and nutrients run away and leave your property. It’s way more intelligent and wise to harvest as much of it as we possibly can and keep building fertility and nutrient stores on our land. That’s how we build great healthy soils and resilience into our living systems.

Another great reason is to cut expenses. If I can grow all my own animal feed then how much more valuable is that production to me? Let’s say it costs me $20 to buy a pastured chicken from someone else, or $8 in feed to raise the bird myself. I can do it myself and get that pastured chicken broiler for $8 in feed and the time invested to care for it and process it, making it a $12 value. But what if just a little more effort was invested, then I can capture that extra $8 in value. So if I can scale the production and it only takes me a total of 10 minutes per bird to harvest and process my own chicken feed for the life of the bird, then my return is actually equivalent to $48 per hour. That’s a pretty good return I’d say! You may be able to buy animal feed for less, but I doubt it would be as healthy as fresh green 20% protein leaves and insects. So not only would you be essentially making a $48 per hr job for yourself, but you would be actually adding to the value of the meat by making it tremendously more nutritious and valuable than the bird you would have been buying for $20. That bird might actually be worth closer to $40 in the health and nutrition, and savings in medical costs associated with eating a less healthy animal. So there’s some food for thought (pun intended).

What Kinds of Plants & Disclaimer

Now let’s get into what kinds of plants I’m talking about here! But before I go and tell you what plants I’m talking about, you really do need to listen well here and be wise and cautious about how deep and quickly you jump into this whole thing. Most of these plants are nuisances at the best of times, and downright horrifying to most people in conventional agriculture and American culture. So it takes responsibility to make sure you don’t spread these plants where they are not wanted and create problems for other people. Additionally, you need to make sure you aren’t breaking local laws by growing or importing these plants into your area or state. Some of them might be downright illegal just because they are problematic for conventionally farmed land. What you do with this information is your own responsibility. I am simply telling you what I know of these plants, how they can be utilized, what I am doing, and what I plan to do with the plants I grow and find wild in my area.

One more time! Check your local laws and if you do something to get yourself in trouble, don’t get upset at me because this is only my opinion and is not advice or a recommendation to do the same as me. Your situation may vary greatly from mine, and your laws may vary greatly from the ones here in Louisiana.

Awesome Plants for Fodder

I’m going to be covering a handful of really cool plants that I am targeting for fodder use. And I say it’s really good to have a variety for several reasons. A more diverse diet for your animals is always a good thing. If you ever have problems with one or two of your crops, the others will hopefully be able to still meet your needs. Additionally, some of the crops will have seasons of high production, and seasons of low production. So without further ado, let’s get into the weeds so to speak!

• Mulberry (Any kind will do but specifically white mulberry Morus alba)
• Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia)
• Giant Cane (Arundo donax)
• Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida)
• Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) Bocking #4

Yes I just listed some of the most hated weeds in America!! Now I said it before and I’ll say it again, I am by no means saying I specifically endorse my listeners planting of any of these plants on their properties, because I cannot know your circumstances or laws. However, if you find yourself battling one or some of these plants, you might want to re-think how you treat it and choose to think of it as an ally to help you develop more self sufficiency and independence as well as healthier animals! I am bringing several of these plants into greater prominence on our land for animal food. And I’m not afraid of any of them, so you have to make your own determination for your situation.

• Mulberry (Morus alba)

White mulberry and even paper mulberry are great but I prefer white mulberry because it has been worked with the longest to increase protein content and ease of harvest in the silkworm trade. This plant has been grown for a long time specifically to be cut as fodder for silkworms. If possible, always try to find plants that lend themselves to doing the job you want them to do well. If thousands of people grow white mulberry specifically because they produce high protein easily harvestable fodder, then your search is all but over! That’s why I have hundreds of seedlings growing and getting ready to plant out into my landscape this upcoming winter. They will grow for a couple years before extensive harvesting will start but in the meantime I’ll be able to harvest a little bit at a time from each tree to supplement my animal feed needs. Protein reported at 11-25% and averaging at 20%.

Propagation

I think it’s easiest and best to get some seed, stratify the seed and grow your own seedlings but the stratification process for mulberry is somewhat involved and too complicated to describe with the space and time I have here. Alternatively you can buy the seedlings relatively cheaply and it will often save you a year or two of time to just buy seedling trees. So I’ll leave it to you to decide what you have more of, time or money. But I’m frugal so I got seed to start my own.

Site selection and soil

Grows in most soils, and isn’t picky about where it is planted. But generally good moist well drained soils will do well for this tree. I am planning on using it as part of my living fence along my roadways to be harvested as part of the fence maintenance. Essentially I’ll end up with an animal proof white mulberry hedge. The animal side won’t be left to animal pressure constantly because goats will strip the bark, but periodic pressure with a paddock shift system will keep the animal side trimmed and under control just fine. It should look very nice as well which is always a plus!

• Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia)

This one is actually going to be more difficult to keep growing and might require a greenhouse but that is part of it’s appeal. If you want to grow a great fodder crop but don’t want it to become invasive and you don’t live in the tropics, it’ll die in the winter leaving you a clean slate for next year. It’s a tropical that grows VERY fast and will grow just fine through live stake propagation. What that means is that if you take it inside a greenhouse or your house during the winter and keep it growing indoors, or at least harvest the seed, you can get it growing outdoors every year wherever you need it and harvest at will. Protein content reported at 12-30+% averaging around 20%.

Propagation

I already mentioned live stake propagation and seed. Those are the best ways in my opinion. You can harvest the seed heads when they dry to grow new plants from seed every spring to transplant, or keep a plant in a large pot with lots of stems for live stake propagation the following spring. For that all you need is about a 2 foot long living stick, put it in the ground about a foot deep and it will root shortly. Seed is easy if you keep it moist and warm, from 70-75 F for a couple weeks. It generally germinates in a week to 14 days.

Site selection and soil

Not fussy about location but it appreciates constant moisture and does not need much in the way of fertility for excellent growth. Mulched well it shouldn’t need much water unless you live in a dry climate.

• Giant Cane (Arundo donax)

This is commonly known as giant reed, colorado river weed, spanish cane. It usually only grows about 15 feet tall but can grow up to 30 feet tall and once it gets established, it’s almost impossible to kill as well as having almost no disease and insect issues. This plant concentrates phosphates at flowering stage, so if cut before seed is created can be used as a fantastic phosphate rich mulch. Cut fodder is best harvested at around 3 feet in height when it is most palatable and has the highest protein content from 11%-20%. It will grow to this height in about a week or two.

This is one of those plants that can be a wonderful tool and a nightmare if you don’t have the time or use for a massively aggressive biomass producers. They are known to produce upwards of 20 tons of biomass per acre. That’s a big deal! But here’s the great part. If you run them through a shredder, they are very palatable for sheep, goats, and cattle. And I assume since it’s basically just a giant grass, that it would be just fine for chickens, rabbits, and lots of other small stock as well. Cut young is reported at 11-20% protein with 13% being the average.

Propagation

It’s best to propagate with rhizomes, but you can also propagate it via stem cuttings relatively easy. Essentially just use a live stake method or lay the stalk horizontally and cover with soil, keep moist. You might have better success with cuttings if you include the base of the cutting rather than material halfway up the stalk.

Site selection and soil

Thrives in moist soils and riparian areas. So lots of water is best. They transpire a LOT of water but they grow super fast. Despite the fact that they love tons of water, they’re actually very drought tolerant and do fantastic in mediterranean climates. So even if you’re in a dry climate, you can grow this stuff.

Warning!!

This has potential to be a very invasive and costly plant to get rid of. This is something you don’t want to play with unless you really can be responsible with. The roots are aggressive and deep as well as dense and hard to remove.

• Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida)

This is one of those hated weeds in grain growing areas but most animals love it. The seed is supposed to be over 40% protein and a huge quail attractant. Pigs love it as well as goats and sheep. I learned about this from Gene Logsdon who wrote about it back in 2008. He described it as having been named by the romans as a gift of the gods, ask a grain farmer and they’ll call you a liar. Talk to a grazer and they’d be inclined to agree if they ever observed animals attacking it before eating anything else! Most ruminants and pigs will prefer it over alfalfa and clover and most anything else so it must be tasty. It gets up to 15 feet tall, so keep that in mind when you are picking a place for it to grow.

Propagation

By seed is the way to go but good luck finding seed anywhere, the best idea is to get a positive identification and collect seed from the wild.

Site selection and soil

It loves roadsides and generally degraded soils as well as waste areas.

• Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) Bocking #4

This is one of my favorite plants by far and I know I’ve talked about it quite a bit on the show but it bears repeating of course. The #4 bocking comfrey is less hairy and more palatable for animals, so that’s the one I prefer of course. It’s not as deeply rooted as others but despite that it’s the one I want for my animals. This plant likes moist soils and lots of nutrients. It grows rapidly and can be cut completely to the ground up to 4 times a year, but I prefer to go through the patch and pull handfuls of leaves from each plant every few days to get a longer and lighter harvest from the plants. It doesn’t stress them nearly as much as being cut to the ground. And it keeps the ground shaded which can almost eliminate weed pressure. Many farmers back in the day used it as a primary feed source for pigs and cattle. It comprised 50% of their diet in many instances. There is a lot of scary governmental warnings about alkaloids killing everyone’s liver if they eat it, so I say, do your own research and decide for yourself if it’s a dangerous plant. I certainly won’t be giving any medical advice. It is somewhat difficult to get rid of once planted but can certainly be beaten. So don’t stress if you see people saying it will be a permanent plant wherever you put it, that’s an exaggeration. The leaves are reported as 14-30% protein with an average being around 18% protein.

Propagation

Root cutting and crown cuttings only. This is self sterile hybrid cultivar and can only be propagated asexually. But is super easy to grow a new plant via root cuttings. You can sometimes even get pieces the size of a pencil in diameter that are only half an inch long to grow. But the larger the piece of root, the quicker it will get established and grow a large plant. I prefer crowns over anything else because you have a harvestable leaf crop the same year.

Site selection and soil

Moist soils, tolerates heavy as well as sandy soils and everything in between. Deeply rooted vigorous and hardy. Will grow just fine under tree cover but will produce more and faster if in full sun.

So there you have it! Those are my 5 awesome plants for fodder and I hope I didn’t get too detailed for you on this stuff but there’s a lot to cover and only so much time to do it! The most important thing I want you to take away from this is that you can definitely become feed store independent if you build into your homestead a good diversity of protein rich plants to feed your animals. Most animals will do just fine on a mixed diet of these 5 plants as well as some kind of grass. So try a couple out and let me know how it goes for you. I’ll definitely be updating you guys on our progress as I get these systems designed, planted and operating well. I have a ways to go before I’m even close to getting free of my feed bill but I hope to be cutting a little bit of it out every year for the next few years.

Thank you so much for listening!

If you have a question or comment about the show feel free to send me an email to nick@homegrownliberty.com

Until next week,  I hope you have a wonderful day, God Bless. And as always “Go Do Good Things”