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market-farming - Re: water jugs and pigs - was Re: Greenhouse/Johnson grass

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  • From: "William E. Dellinger, International Food Congress" <hunger AT hunger.org>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: water jugs and pigs - was Re: Greenhouse/Johnson grass
  • Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2001 18:36:03 -0600

At least on fescue I've seen pigs make a run for it--going through the wire squealing and screaming--followed by the rest of the sows. Fescue is not very palatable apparently, enough so that the sows were willing to crash the electric fence. I do realize others have good luck with it, but confining the hogs to one area in order to overgraze the noxious grass or weed to death doesn't seem workable.

Jeffery Blake wrote:

I don't know about controling Johnson grass, which I am unfamiliar with, but an electric fence will hold a pig very well.  Pigs learn very fast just what an electric fence means.  Recommed using a 1 to 6 joule fencer.  Little pigs will go under it or root dirt onto it but a 50 Lb pig or larger will stay in.  This size of the pen might make a difference a small pen might cause a pig to feel trapped or to cause it to spook into the fence and right on through it.  You shouldn't use an electric fence to work the pig against.  One wire at nose height will hold sows forever. You should leave a non-electric gate into the paddock, as the pigs won't cross the area where the electric fence was even if you remove the wire. Seems to me in trying to control a weed that comes up from rhizomes, like Johnson grass as I understand it, that you would have to either use a lot of pigs on a small area or use a few pigs on a small area over quite a time.  All of which would compact the soil.  They should work well in a larger pen in grazing down other weeds however.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: water jugs and pigs - was Re: Greenhouse/Johnson grass
 Johnson grass is an Africa grass introduced and then an escape, and is worse, I believe, in the South, and in Southern and Central Missouri than in the north. It is not at all like Bermuda grass, although both are green.

I've tried using a pig tractor in Missouri on fescue, another 'introduction' that is pernicious. It was very hard on the soil, and did not set the fescue back much if at all. Besides the pigs hated it, and would succeed at getting out, through the fence, over me, etc. A portable fence is probably not hog-tite, even if electric.

Bill

Marie Kamphefner wrote:

Regards to the list:

Joel,

There is a guy in town with a small lean-to type home made greenhouse where he starts his seedlings and stores his tropical plants in the cold weather.  He has milk jugs filled with water stacked up on wooden shelves and if I remember correctly he had the jugs stacked somehow around the base under the benches.  This was on the master gardeners' tour a couple of years ago and I had forgotten about it.  Thanks for reminding me and for the web site.

I'd like to hear more about using pigs to irradicate weed roots and such.  We probably have Johnson grass, but I don't know what it looks like; is it similar to Bermuda grass?  What kind of pigs do you have and what other care do you provide them?  Would you put a hog hut or some other kind of shelter and shade in each strip?  How big are the strips?  Do you shut them up at night?  Do you think coyotes would leave them alone like the deer do?  Is there a web site regarding this?  I am beginning to get a vision of a "pig tractor."  Please stop me if I'm barking up the wrong tree!  A pig tractor would have to be too big, wouldn't it?  Never mind.

Marie in Missouri
 
 
 

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