Lambs Learn to Love Noxious Weed

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Dean Dutton, Cliff Cox, John Potter and Doug Potter own the ranches where the commuting animals grazed. Dutton's ranch is located at Gold Creek between Butte and Missoula. The others are located in the Spokane Hills around East Helena. Sven Svenson of Reed Point provided hundreds of sheep and goats for the experiment.

'It's been fantastic. I hope it continues. It has saved my bacon,' Svenson says of the study that gave him extra pasture, allowed his own pastures to rejuvenate and provided the opportunity to raise more sheep. He was able to keep his ranch free of noxious weeds by penning the sheep and goats in a small pasture for two or three days after they returned home, Svenson adds.

Dutton says sheep and goats from another producer wouldn't touch his Dalmatian toadflax in 2005. Why some sheep love Dalmatian toadflax and others don't is one of the questions that Surber and Kott want to investigate. But Dutton says he was pleased with the performance of Svenson's animals in 2007. Svenson sent 1,000 sheep and goats to graze more than 2,000 acres, and they were much more effective than chemicals, Dutton says. They and the guard dogs that protected them also got along well with his cattle.

'I'm very happy with it,' Dutton says. 'It looked really good. When toadflax was gone, they worked on the knapweed.'

Dalmatian toadflax is fairly widespread across Montana, but it's especially prevalent between Missoula and Deer Lodge, Surber says. The Bucksnort fire of 2000 created a welcoming environment in the Spokane Hills near East Helena, too.

—Evelyn Boswell, (406) 994-5135 or evelynb@montana.edu

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