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Targeted Grazing
Prescriptions:
Forbs
Grasses
Woody Plants
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Blackberries
Rubus spp. |
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Description:
Perennial; blooms June to August. Root buds
produce trailing reddish stems with sharp spines
that can grow more than 20 feet per season.
Leaves alternate, palmate, and compound with
serrate margins. Flowers five-petaled, white to
light pink. Himalayan blackberry is the most
widespread and economically disruptive of all
the noxious weeds in western Oregon. It
aggressively displaces native plant species,
dominates most riparian habitats, and has a
significant economic impact on right-of-way
maintenance, agriculture, park maintenance, and
forest production. It is a significant cost in
riparian restoration projects and physically
inhibits access to recreational activities. It
reproduces at cane apices (tips) and by seeds,
which are carried by birds and animals. This
strategy allows it to expand quickly across a
landscape or to jump great distances and create
new infestations.
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Photo by Karen Launchbaugh,
University of Idaho |
Management Guidelines:
Type and Class of
Livestock:
Goats and sheep.
Grazing Objective:
Browse blackberries season long to achieve and
maintain 95% stem defoliation or complete
removal of young stems.
Growth Stage for
Treatment:
Livestock, especially goats, will readily
consume blackberry seedlings and early-season
growth. However, sheep or goats can browse
blackberries year round, with average stocking
rates of three to four animals per acre.
Potential Effectiveness:
Goats are ideal for browsing blackberries,
because they will consume the entire plant year
round. Sheep will eat blackberries but not to
the same extent as goats. Goats have the
potential to destroy all top growth in a single
year of grazing. Shrubs will regrow if grazing
stops before the entire plant is destroyed,
which may take a few to several years.
Season-long browsing may require supplemental
feeding of hay during the winter to maintain
animal body weight. Grazing by goats or sheep is
less costly than chemical or mechanical control
of blackberries, especially in rough terrain.
However, grazing can be integrated with
herbicides or mechanical control. Any control
strategy can be considered short-lived unless
projects are planned and funded for the long
term. |
References:
Coos Soil and Water Conservation District. 2000.
Grazing for control of Himalayan blackberry.
Available at:
http://coosswcd.oacd.org/him_blackberry_text.htm.
Accessed 12 July 2006.
DiTomaso, J.M. 2002. Pest notes: Wild
blackberries. IPM Online. Available at:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7434.html.
Accessed 12 July 2006.
Faithfull, I. 2004. Blackberry management. Land
Care Note LC0381. Available at:
http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DPI/nreninf.nsf/
Accessed 12 July 2006.
Tasmania Department of Primary Industries,
Water, and Environment 2002. Blackberry (Rubus
fruticosus aggregate).
Available at:
http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/RPIO-4ZW2MF?open#IntegratedManagement
. Accessed 12 July 2006. |
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