Bamboo for Fodder

[garthb]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum, so I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

I'm interested in experimenting with bamboo as a winter fodder crop for a herd of cattle. I've been researching it, and it seems to be a common practice in Asia, but I can find little practical information about how I might go around trying it out myself.

What I envision is establishing a stand of bamboo that would grow unhindered all summer. In the winter, I would like to portion off sections of this to stand to the herd, letting them graze the leaves. The bamboo would regrow in the spring summer fall, and be eaten again the following winter, etc. Is this a remotely realistic plan? What species of bamboo would be suitable? I'm right on the zone 5/4 line, which I imagine severely limits my options.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

-Garth

[David]

Hello Garth. Welcome to the forum. Your zone 5/4 is definitely going to limit your possible choices of bamboo for fodder. You could perhaps get bissetti to grow and spread but you would only be able to put perhaps 1/3 of the total grove into forage each year. I don't think any bamboo could tolerate defoliation each year and still spread and grow as you mentioned, however you could rotate sections of the grove to forage each year, and allow the previous years forage to recover. This is just speculation on my part because I have not tried to do this, however it makes sense in regard to how I understand bamboo to grow. Perhaps some of the extreme bamboo growers could chime in here with more accurate observations of bamboos on the edge.

One thought might be to locate stands of Arundinaria gigantea, and its kin growing in your area. It's an extremely hardy indigenous bamboo. Cane breaks of this bamboo were used by early settlers in many parts of the country as fodder and shelter for their free range livestock.

Hope some of this helps.

[Alan_L]

What about some of the rampant runners -- Sasa, or sasaella, or whatever. Something that topkills every year but still manages to spread.

This is one of the very few (only?) posts about how to get something to eat your bamboo, instead of how to prevent them from eating it.

[Iowaboo]

Most likely in his zone, winter will kill the top growth anyways, so it could in theory be all grazed in winter. In spring, I cut off the canes, and throw them in with the goats, and they clean all the dried leaves off. Little do they know they are cleaning leaves off whips to use on them

But the idea isn't really practical in these cold climatic zones. Maybe after decades, the bamboo will have spread enough to actual have any foraging worth, but this isn't the south, where its known as damnboo. There are severe limitations in the North. I wonder what ever happened to the guy in Minnesota that was going to plant 50 acres of the stuff.

[garthb]

Thanks for the replies!

I understand that what I'm proposing doing is not exactly common practice, and that it may end up being a (rather interesting) waste of my time in terms of actually feeding any cows. Regardless, I plan on at the very least planting some test patches of a few different types.

I saw that A. Gigantea can supposedly survive up my way, so that's on the list, but I'm interested in hearing from anyone who grows in cold climates. What types hold their leaves in good condition the deepest into the winter? Would it make more sense to plant a type that will theoretically grow canes that winter over, or a type that would be killed to the ground by the cold?

I have a bull in with the cows, so I'm not in a hurry to find out what he thinks of me whipping anyone, but I'm sure I'd find something to do with the canes.

[needmore]

I'm not sure where you are located but my guess is that on the edge of zone 4/5 you'll rarely have green leaves very far into winter regardless of species, so will they enjoy dead canes and leaves?

[foxd]

I have read historic records of cows being released to forage for the winter in a canebrake near New Harmony, Indiana. So A. gigiantea would be at the top of my list to try.

Lance, that sounds like an amazingly good idea! Instead of having to trim the canes by hand, maintain a pen of goats to do it for you. I wonder how well this would work with the larger bamboos?

[needmore]

I have read historic records of cows being released to forage for the winter in a canebrake near New Harmony, Indiana. So A. gigiantea would be at the top of my list to try.

Lance, that sounds like an amazingly good idea! Instead of having to trim the canes by hand, maintain a pen of goats to do it for you. I wonder how well this would work with the larger bamboos?

Yeah but New Harmony is about z6b-7 is it not?

[Iowaboo]

I have read historic records of cows being released to forage for the winter in a canebrake near New Harmony, Indiana. So A. gigiantea would be at the top of my list to try.

Lance, that sounds like an amazingly good idea! Instead of having to trim the canes by hand, maintain a pen of goats to do it for you. I wonder how well this would work with the larger bamboos?

yes, in theory it sounds good. I've thought about utilizing it in some way like that in the future, but its just going to be on limited scale. Goats eat way less than cattle, so just seems impractical for the OP's situation. He'd be better off just to move to a more southern location is he has no ties in his current situation. I've looked at some of those southern places and some nice cheap land available. Clearcut land can sell for cheap, then have an empty canvas to plant bamboo!

example: http://www.landsofamerica.com/america/? ... _id=821102

around here, 25 acres sell for that much

[garthb]

I'm actually in a great climate for cows health-wise, and we can feed them off of mixed perennial pasture for most of the year. It's those 3-4 winter months when hay is usually fed that I'm trying to find a good fodder crop for.

Cows can eat quite a range of things. One of my first evaluative steps (after, say, making sure it could survive -15 F.) would be to send the winter leaves to a lab for nutrient analysis.

So what's the best way to go about finding specimen of A. gigantea that would have a chance of making it in central New York?

[Iowaboo]

Not sure if impressions have changed, but what I gathered from people on here, that native type of bamboo doesn't spread as fast as species in the Phyllostachys genus. What kind of time frame do you have to work with, to get this idea off the ground? If you are young like me, then probably can swing it without putting too much money into the idea.

[garthb]

Minimizing hay on the farm is a long term goal. I don't care if it takes years to establish large stands of something that will work. If I do locate some local stands, it would make the most sense to take a forage sample from them before I go planting anything.

I could write a few paragraphs about why bamboo would be a good fit for a grass based farm IF the leaves hold some quality fairly deep into the winter, but I don't know how interested everyone is in the details of pasture management.

[Alan_L]

If I do locate some local stands, it would make the most sense to take a forage sample from them before I go planting anything.

Also a good idea to get your plants from that same stand if possible, if you can find any. Proven hardiness in your area would be the best place to start.

[EvergreenPoaceae]

I'd try Phyllostachys bissetii or Phyllostachys bissetii 'Dwarf' form.

I've grown Phyllostachys bissetii dwarf form for the last five years here in CNY. Now roughly 15+ feet in height. Even with our very cold December and early January, it stayed evergreen up until the recent arctic outbreak on the morning of January 24th when I recorded minus 17F in my backyard. The official reading was minus 13F at the Airport. That was the coldest temperature since I started growing bamboo. Prior to that date, the lowest this winter was -5F. Today there are still leaves on the bissetii, but I imagine that in a few days I'll just see brown.

None of the bamboo I grow stays totally evergreen without snow cover as of yet. In past years, it wasn't the cold, ....past lows were between -2 and -10, rather it was the high winds with the below freezing temperatures that did them in first. I've never lost a culm on the bissetii Dwarf to cold or wind, just the leaves. With this severe winter, I'm very interested to find out if the culms survived come spring.

After the first large snowfall every winter, I do my best to bury as much of the bamboo in piles of snow as I possibility can. It was much tougher this year since the Phyllostachys bissetii dwarf and Phyllostachys dulcis were much larger than previous years and tougher to bend down to the ground. I only managed to cover and protect half of the bissetii dwarf form this year....and that was a project that involved heavy rocks, rope and large plastic sheets. Past years, I'd only leave 3 or 4 culms not bent over to see how they'd fair through the winter months.

Based on my limited experience:

-As long as there is snow cover on the ground when temperatures go below 0F the hardier species will come back the next year even if all the leaves and culms die. So don't worry about killing it unless it was planted incorrectly (poor soil, poor drainage etc.) or was a weak plant going into winter.

-If you manage to keep at least 3 or 4 decent sized culms and their leaves intact/alive/green out of a whole clump/grove of bamboo, the new shoots should grow only slightly smaller than the previous year. This has been my experience on my rather immature clumps of Phyllostachys. May prove incorrect in future years?

-After the bamboo matures, in an average year (normal years are becoming rare lately!), species like Phyllostachys bissetii will probably stay evergreen until at least early January...that is at least where I am. If you're in a colder micro-climate or on a exposed windy hill top your experience may differ.

-If you find any way to cover the bamboo (apparently it doesn't need light during the winter) during December, January, February, and March it will look almost as fresh and as green as the day you covered it come April.

As far as I know, Arundinaria gigantea is not native to Upstate New York and I do not know of any local stands of it. I have no experience with Arundinaria gigantea since I've never added it to my collection.

[Mike McG]

... One of my first evaluative steps (after, say, making sure it could survive -15 F.) would be to send the winter leaves to a lab for nutrient analysis...

We have horses and cattle in the same pasture. Both eat all the species of bamboo that they can reach, especially in the winter, but the horses can reach further on the other side of the fence and so they get to it first. None of the bamboo rhizomes that penetrate the pasture side of the fence survive.

My limited experience with winter culm kill of semi tropical clumping bamboo (our min temp is usually 18-20°F but last winter it got down to 13°F) is that the leaves turn light green and dry, they eventually fall off. In Zone 4/5 some the more hardy bamboo may also eventually defoliate in late winter if culm killed. If so you may still need some other fodder later in the winter.

I have saved several notes discussing the quality of bamboo as fodder over the years, and it appears there are many species that are adequate as cow feed. Here is an old post on a different message board from Steve Carter that references A. gigantea. The link indicated no longer seems to work, It was probably replaced with the following link: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plan ... g/all.html
The text from the old link is also shown below.

1244 From: W. A. Carter <scarter@b...>
Date: Sun Aug 5, 2001 11:04am
Subject: RE: fodder

<snip>Does anyone have information on bamboo for use as fodder for cows in particular,
dairy cows?

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plan ... id/arugig/

SPECIES: Arundinaria gigantea
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Cane is one of the most valuable native forages in the Coastal Plain region of Virginia and North Carolina [19]. During winter when other green herbage is scarce, cattle graze the leaves and stems. On an experimental range in North Carolina, cane was grazed from May to January and furnished 70 to 90 percent of the cattle diet [8]. Black bears graze this species in the southeastern United States [10].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Cane is one of the most nutritious native forage plants growing in the eastern United States [11]. Crude protein, calcium, and phosphorus are well above the requirements for maturing cattle [8]. Crude protein varies from a high of 20 percent in June to 14 percent in September and October, and 12 percent in December [11]. Digestible nutrients in cane foliage are highest during May and June, then decline rapidly during the remainder of the summer and fall [12].
COVER VALUE :
Dense, tall patches of cane (A. g. spp. tecta) form almost impenetrable thickets; therefore, only small birds and mammals are likely to find cover in these areas [12].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Cane can withstand extended flooding, drought, and intense surface fires, making it a remarkably stable source of forage. The species is, however, sensitive to overgrazing. Plants are often completely defoliated by cattle because leaves are produced on branches well above the ground. The most readily accessible cane is generally 80 to 100 percent defoliated by the end of the grazing season if stocking rates are high [19]. Where cane furnishes a minor part of the forage, it is usually overgrazed. Under careful management, however, grazing capacity of cane is high, ranging from 0.5 to 1 acre per cow-month [8].


Mike McG near Brenham TX