Sheep owner finds plentiful pasture killing weeds with flock

By Lisa Surber and Melissa Griffiths for The Three Rivers Edition - 01/15/2008

If you are driving along or fishing the Madison River south of Ennis, there is a strong possibility you may see a large flock (band) of sheep grazing peacefully near the river.

These sheep are part of a pilot project designed to target spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa). Sheep owner Riley Wilson, of Harrison makes his living raising these wooly critters and using their talents for eating up weeds.

Wilson has been in the sheep business all of his life. He owns just 25 acres in southwestern Montana; however, he is able to own and manage a lot more sheep than his land can support because of the weed control opportunities he has found in Montana.

Sheep have long been used for weed control. In recent years, renewed interest in using sheep for vegetative management has made these wooly weed eaters a hot commodity. Grazing by sheep or goats stresses spotted knapweed, taxes its root system, reduces seed production, and increases its vulnerability to other control tools (such as biological control or herbicides). There are benefits of using biological control methods like sheep grazing. Sheep grazing is a safe and ecologically friendly method to help control invasive plants. It can also be an effective means to reduce the incident of wildfires. Overall, controlled sheep grazing can improve rangeland, riparian and watershed areas and wildlife habitat.

Riley runs about 600 sheep in his operation. He spends just a few short months on the acreage in Harrison in the winter and early spring, but most of the year, these sheep have grazing jobs to do around southwestern Montana. He utilizes adjacent hayfields, grain fields and crop residues, and is hired out by small landowners and homeowner’s associations to graze in subdivisions. Riley is the owner and operator of Wooly Weed Eaters.

Wilson’s Wooly Weed Eaters employs about 400 sheep from May through September to browse spotted knapweed leaves and buds before the plants can make viable seed. The sheep eat the weeds first because they naturally are attracted to forbs rather than grass. Wilson works closely with the Montana Sheep Institute on some of grazing jobs like the Madison River Pilot Project.

The Pilot Project The Madison River Grazing Pilot Project began in 2004 and is located in Madison County, along an eight-mile stretch of the Madison River, from the McAtee Bridge to the South Madison Fishing Access. The project is collaboration between the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group Weed Committee, Montana Sheep Institute, BLM, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The project area includes public lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, as well as private parcels owned by approximately 29 different landowners. This stretch of the river is infested with spotted knapweed to varying degrees. The area treated with prescription sheep grazing is one-half mile on each side of the river, approximately 3,449 acres. River corridors are especially sensitive to chemical treatment of invasives and sheep grazing can provide a biological weed control solution. Sheep will readily consume spotted knapweed, and thus prescribed sheep grazing can be utilized as a tool to economically control invasive plants as part of an integrated weed management program.

This grazing pilot project directly affects the private landowners within the project area, the general public who utilize the public land within the project, the residents of the Madison Valley and members of the weed fighting community who benefit from the increased knowledge that comes from experimental projects such as this. In addition, land managers throughout the West may benefit from this project as it provides yet another tool in the arsenal to fight the on-going war on weeds, particularly because it can be safely used along waterways and in other environmentally sensitive areas where chemical use is less desirable. The livestock industry benefits as it highlights another real need for grazing animals, not only for sustenance, but also in this highly specialized manner for which there is increasing demand. This project is particularly valuable in the field of noxious weed research as it is one of the only projects in which 100 percent of the impact on weeds is performed by sheep. There is no cattle grazing within the project area, and this allows for a uniquely focused assessment of the impact that sheep alone have on spotted knapweed.

The Montana Sheep Institute Most land managers agree that the spread of non-native invasive plants is the primary environmental threat to western wild lands. Sheep production can yield other products in addition to food and fiber. It can provide land managers an alternate tool in their fight against invasive plants that is more economically feasible and environmentally sensitive when compared to traditional weed control methods.

Sheep grazing as a vegetative management tool represents the only economically and environmentally sound alternative to address large infestations of invasive plants. The Montana Sheep Institute is demonstrating that controlled sheep and/or goat grazing is effective in managing established infestations of many of these non-native weeds. However, widespread adoption of this valuable tool in the fight against noxious weeds will not occur until grazing strategies are developed and tested on large-scale infestations. Additionally, availability of sheep has limited their use as a tool in weed management projects. A sustained and profitable sheep industry must exist for this tool to be available to land managers. The Montana Sheep Institute is assisting sheep producers to reduce production costs, thereby improving the profitability of their operations. This project addresses animal husbandry, breeding and genetics, management, and wool and lamb marketing issues necessary for a healthy and viable sheep industry. Improvement of the economic status of the sheep industry will benefit Montana rural counties and communities adversely affected by the sheep industry’s decline. This project represents a true partnership between Montana State University and industry stakeholders (sheep producers, county weed districts and supervisors, federal and state land managers and private land owners).

Wooly Weed Eaters Riley Wilson is gearing up for the 2008 grazing season. He and his band of weed fighters will move from job to job for five to eight months. Their job sites range from one acre to 8,000 acres. However, their typical sites are mostly small tracts of land that are less than 200 acres.

Wilson typically uses yearling sheep.

“They are easier to move and require less water when compared to ewes and their lambs. Yearlings handle the stress of transportation better as well,” says Wilson.

He utilizes electric fencing to contain his sheep in a target area. Most landowners or landowner associations are looking for weed control. There are some larger job sites that are looking for vegetation control. Using sheep for vegetation control decreases potential fuel for wild land fires.

“Many of my clients or patients, as I like to call them, own expensive homes and want to plan for the what ifs,” Riley explained.

Wilson charges his clients about $2.50 per sheep per month, depending on the distance to the project, size and constraints of the project.

Riley Wilson can be contacted at 685-3342 Lisa Surber, a research scientist with the Montana Sheep Institute at Montana State University in Bozeman, can be reached at) 994-2093 or lmsurber@montana.edu.

Melissa Griffiths, the weed coordinator with the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group, can be reached at 682-3731.

Each year prior to the grazing season Wilson contacts the landowner(s) and charts out a plan of action. He decides how many sheep are needed, how long the sheep will stay on the project, and the desired degree of weed or vegetation removed. Once Wilson’s grazing season is over, the planning process begins all over again. Riley maps out which jobs he will work again and which he won’t come back to again.

Wilson is facing many of the same challenges that small business owners are facing in the West. The rising cost of fuel is having a large impact on the cost of doing business. The sheep are trucked from location to location. Trucking charges have increased proportionally with fuel costs. Riley also has to maintain his electric fencing system so it is working properly to keep his employees happily munching on the right weed or vegetation. Consequently, Wilson reevaluates what he charges his clients periodically to reflect increased costs.