If you’ve ever walked through a pasture and wondered exactly what you’re looking at, you’re not alone. Once you start paying attention, there can be a surprising variety of plants growing alongside the grasses.
In our latest YouTube video, Adam takes a walk through our pasture and identifies some of the broadleaf plants and other forage we’re currently finding on the farm.
Not every plant we found is necessarily something we want more of. Some are useful forage, some have benefits for wildlife and the ecosystem, and others are simply plants that have found an opportunity to grow in our pasture. Learning to identify them is the first step toward understanding what’s happening in the soil and making better decisions about how we manage the land.
Broadleaf Forage Identification
Here are the plants Adam identified during our pasture walk:
1. Giant Ragweed
Giant ragweed is a tall annual plant that can become quite noticeable in pastures. While it isn’t necessarily a plant we’re trying to encourage, identifying it helps us keep track of what is growing and how the pasture is changing over time.
2. Ironweed
Ironweed is a native perennial wildflower that produces distinctive purple flowers. It can be valuable to pollinators and wildlife, although, like many broadleaf plants, we don’t necessarily want it taking over areas intended for grazing.
3. Dog Fennel
Dog fennel is another plant commonly found in disturbed areas and pastures. Its fine, feathery foliage can make it easy to recognize once you know what you’re looking for.
4. Black Walnut
We also came across black walnut growing in the pasture. Black walnut is a native tree with its characteristic compound leaves and round nuts. Seeing young trees coming up in a grazing area is something we’ll continue to keep an eye on as we manage the pasture.
5. Carex
Carex, commonly referred to as sedges, can look a lot like grasses at first glance. There are many different species of Carex, and they’re an interesting reminder that not everything that looks like grass is technically a grass.
6. Common Ragweed
Common ragweed is another annual broadleaf plant we found. It’s a common pasture plant and is probably one that many people recognize without knowing exactly what it is.
7. Late Boneset
Late boneset is a native perennial that produces clusters of small white flowers. Like ironweed and goldenrod, it can provide resources for pollinators and other wildlife.
8. Dame’s Rocket
Dame’s rocket is a flowering plant that can be found in a variety of habitats. Its colorful flowers make it easy to spot when it’s blooming.
9. Goldenrod
Goldenrod is one of the more recognizable plants on our list, especially when it’s covered in its bright yellow flowers. It’s an important late-season nectar source for pollinators and is a common native plant throughout much of the region.
10. Amaranth
Amaranth is another broadleaf plant that can show up in disturbed soils and cultivated or grazed areas. Some species can provide forage value, while others can become problematic weeds depending on the situation.
11. Maple
Finally, Adam identified a young maple growing in the pasture. Like the black walnut, this is a reminder that pastures are constantly changing and that trees and other plants will naturally establish themselves if given the opportunity.
Why Are We Identifying All These Plants?
One of the reasons we’re paying closer attention to what’s growing in our pasture is because we’re hoping our grazing management will improve the pasture over time.
We’re working toward a rotational grazing system where the cattle will spend shorter periods of time grazing an area before being moved to another section and given time to recover.
The goal isn’t simply to eliminate every plant that isn’t grass.
Instead, we’re interested in creating a healthier, more productive pasture with a diverse plant community while encouraging the plants that provide the most value for our cattle and the land.
And that’s going to take time.
We’re still learning what grows here, how our cattle interact with different plants, and how the pasture responds to our management. Videos like this are a way for us to document that process and learn right alongside you.
Follow Along as the Pasture Changes
We’re excited to look back at these videos in a year or two and see how different the pasture looks.
Will we have fewer undesirable weeds? More desirable forage? Better grass growth? More diversity?
Hopefully, we’ll be able to look back and see the difference that thoughtful grazing management can make.
For now, we’re learning to identify what we have and paying attention to what the land is telling us.
If you’re working on improving your own pasture, we’d love to hear what you’re finding on your land, too. There is always something new to learn when you start looking closely.