| Vines and Ovines |
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Monday, October 29 2007, 7:00pm - 9:00pm |
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The
Inland Mendocino Cooperative Weed Management Area (IMCWMA) is hosting
a series of meetings in October and November to raise awareness and
increase participation in invasive weed management. Each meeting will
feature an invited speaker and conclude with a poster session
including refreshments and opportunities to obtain more information
about weed management from a number of experts.
Speaker: John
Harper, University of California Cooperative Extension, Ukiah
Abstract:
Vineyard floor vegetation is primarily controlled by chemical and
mechanical methods. Both methods are problematic as herbicide
applications can potentially impair water quality and mechanical
control (mowing and cultivation) can often be delayed by rains. The
cultural practice of grazing sheep in vineyards to control floor
vegetation has been used, but cannot be employed after new buds
emerge in early spring. We present new results on a method to train
sheep to have a dietary aversion to grape leaves by orally dosing
sheep with lithium chloride (LiCl) following grape leaf consumption.
LiCl causes a temporary illness and a negative association with grape
leaves, allowing sheep to graze vineyards past budbreak.
Photo caption: sheep trained for
aversion to grape leaves grazing in test vineyard.
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Location: Mendocino County Department of Agriculture, 890 N. Bush St., Ukiah
Contact: Tara Athan, 485-1198 |
| The series is partially funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and co-sponsored by the IMCWMA Partners. |