Donkeys On Thistle Patrol

Donkeys On Thistle Patrol LIVESTOCK Horses/Mules 29-3-40 Chad Moyer, Deer Creek, Minn., has a giant thistle problem but he's gained some control over it, thanks to his secret weapons - a trio of donkeys named Jack, Eeyore and The Recruit. Jack, especially, loves the thistle's purple flowers. He walks through the pasture, nipping them off like a person plucking wild raspberries on a hike through the woods. "The impact (on thistle growth) has been huge," Moyer says, whose donkey experiment was the subject of a University of Minnesota study. Research data showed that plumeless thistle blossoms were reduced by 74 percent in 2003 and 87 percent in 2004, compared to pastures where only cattle grazed. Since thistles spread by seeds and there are thousands of seeds in each flower blossom, the idea is to eliminate the blossoms and eventually the biennial plants will die. The donkey idea came up at a University of Minnesota presentation on the best herbicides to kill thistles, explains Vince Crary, local extension educator for Otter Tail County. A northern Minnesota beef producer mentioned that he had donkeys with his herd to protect newborn calves from timber wolves. As a side benefit he observed that donkeys ate thistle blossoms; thistle plant numbers decreased. When Moyer, a radio agriculture reporter, learned about the idea, he took a personal interest. He'd purchased a 40-acre farm in 2000. Uncultivated for more than a decade, the pasture land was filled with plumeless thistles. Mowing the thistles only increased the problem. He was reluctant to use herbicides due to the cost and because of a nearby stream. In 2003, Moyer and researchers set up three 3-acre paddocks to graze two cow-calf pairs as controls. Three other paddocks were fenced off to graze one donkey and one cow-calf pair. Moyer purchased the male donkeys in Nebraska from the Bureau of Land Management's Adopt a Horse and Burro Program. Cost per donkey came to about $125 including transportation, worming, vaccination and halters. Requiring only one small bale of hay per day to feed the trio for half the year, and with a life expectancy up to 35 years, Moyer thinks the 18-year-old donkeys were a good investment. The official trial ends this fall, when researchers make their final blossom count. Moyer plans to keep his donkeys and tweak the fenced areas. While Jack seems to prefer the blossoms, the other donkeys tend to eat grass first. He may move the cattle through an area first and follow up with the donkeys. Crary noted that Moyer will likely need to use herbicides, especially in the control area. Another trial with an overwhelming number of thistles was cut short because the donkeys simply couldn't get ahead of the blossoms. Moyer is hopeful that once he gets the thistles under control, donkeys will maintain them. He would love to have a crew of donkeys with Jack's insatiable appetite for thistles. Unfortunately, Jack can't help with that. He's been neutered. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Vince Crary, Extension Service, P.O. Box 250, New York Mills, Minn. 56567 (ph 218 385-3000; email crary002@umn.edu).

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