Here at Goat Milk Stuff we try very hard to feed our goats the best food available. This is the main reason we grow our own hay. Although many people erroneously believe that goats can (and will) eat almost anything, one thing they shouldn’t eat is Johnson Grass.

If consumed in large quantities, it can kill the goats, but another problem is that it is super-invasive.  It grows rapidly, and can overtake a field quickly, leaving no room for the nutritious grasses that we have in our hayfield. Once established, about the only way to get rid of it is spraying herbicide, which we will not do, so we must be vigilant to harass and distress or remove any unwanted plants before they can become established. We monitor our hay field closely for dangerous weeds, such as Johnson Grass. This spring we didn’t notice anything in the fields, but when it came time for the second cutting, Greyden and Emery found it:

Yep, Johnson Grass!

So they went through the fields a couple times a week, removing every piece they found.  They carefully collected all of the tops before they could go to seed.

So that when it came time to harvest, we had healthy hay for the goats!