Brahman

[chownah]

Oil of citronella is extracted from a plant grown in Thailand. Is oil of citronella used on livestock as an insect repellant? Ever heard of it being used?

[Maizefarmer]

Lemon grass oil - is that correct Chownah.

Negative - not on cattle but it is used as a mozzie repellant by rural Thai households, as well as a fragrance in incense sticks. It aslo has some good anti-bacterial properties on cuts and grazes.

Cattle will eat it though and water buffalo love it.

Tim

[chownah]

I don't know if it is called "lemon grass oil". It comes from a plant that is related to lemon grass but is distinctly different. Lemon grass is used in Thai cooking while to the best of my knowledge the plant from which citronella oil is extraced is not.

When you say that cattle will eat it...do you mean the oil or the plant? Is the plant good fodder? Around here (in the north) it is very easy to grow although I've never tried planting a pasture from it. I've got a few plants growing thinking that someday I'll try to extract some oil...

Is there any reason it is not used? I've been told that mosquitos can be a problem for cows and pigs.

Chownah

[Maizefarmer]

Same family of plants

Cattle eat the plant - no fodder value from what I can see over other forages, but they like the taste.

No health reason per say why you can't apply citronella oil to your cattle to keep the insects/mozzies off - just seems a little impractical to apply it to a herd of cattle every night. Lot more practical ways - e.g. out mosquito netting on the barn door and windows.

Hate to think how much time I would have to spend collecting/extracting citronella oil if it was what I used on my cattle.

Tim

[chownah]

MaizeFarmer,

No need to worry about how much time and effort it would be to grow and extract the oil......this kind of logic can easily lead one amuck. For instance you probably use some medicines for your cows from time to time....do you hate to think about how much time it would take you to grow the cultures and extract these medicince?....probably not....medicines are buyable and so is oil of citronella.

I'm not saying that you should seriously consider using the stuff....only that the work required to produce it is not a very good arguement against using it....just like it is not a good arguement against using medicines...or barbed wire fences for that matter.

Chownah

[Maizefarmer]

Fair enough......

I plunge dip all my cattle on a regular basis - with Amitraze and Tixafly - that deals with the ticks - and most other bug pests..... takes about an hour to do the whole lot and costs less than Bht1k - efficient.

Tim

[guyshown]

of free grazing what would be the rai to cow calf combo ratio be in north east thailand?

[Maizefarmer]

GUYSHOWN

On cultivated/maintained pasture you can maintain a cow and 2 calves (possibly 3), or 2 cows and 1 calf

On open land (i.e. not cultivated or maintained) - hard to say, because untill one sees what is growing its impossible to tell what it would support - but on average green growth, and assuming you were not worried about milk yield, then 1 cow & 1 calf, and maybe - just maybe 2 cows - so long as their was rain to promote re-growth.

But in dry season on an open field - you wouldn't be able to maintain 1 cow - it would quickly tear out what was there, and with no regrowth would run out of food within a couple weeks.

Tim

[guyshown]

Maizefarmer

Thank you for the information. I thnk that i have said somewhere before but if not...... I am orginally from the wheat land of North Dakota, so do have farming background but it has been years since i have plowed any dirt. We ran a good heard of cows way back they were all black angus but started doing crossing with the charlois(sp?) of course they were pastured and brought in closer to home come calving and winter. Just for the record never cared to much for the cross. I have heard several folks here talk about mechanical cut in carry does that mean baling hay?? does any one plant and use alfalfa?? most of my tee is n rubber trees but am really thinking of adding a few cows I have about ten rai that could be seeded for hay but don't know the best for the area. have water source and so forth. thought about trying to do some form of grass between the rows of the rubber trees but allways thought that there is no way to ever get the moisture lever down low enough to do any type of bailing. any how i am getting long winded thank you again for the informaion you provided

Tony

[Maizefarmer]

GUYSHOWN

Mechanical cut &carry - no, not for hay but for fresh feed and silage. Thats is how th majority of people do it in Thailand but there is no reason why it can't be used for haylage - except that the cut & carry would not take place daily, but just once when the whole field is ready to be cut.

Lots of talk on this forum about different breeds and mixes - and arguments for and against different breeds. The best breed is the breed (mix or purebred - makes no differance) that fits in with your circumstances and situation best i.e. gives you the best margin and best return. It can be anything in Thailand. Successful dairy and beef farming in Thailand is more about this approach (as described above) versus going out and looking for the best breed (in the conventional sense of the argument). I have cows that look good on paper but don't hold a candle to some which I have that look bad on paper.

Alfalfa - generaly not a promoted or extensively used forage crop in Thailand. As you know coming form a livestock background in the USA (where alfalfa is used extensively), it needs a well drained soil and will not tolerate saturated ground, so come rainy season in Thailand - that wil lbe th eend of your crop, and you will have to replant the following year.

It is also very suspectible fungus, and to insects alfalfa is what honey is to bees.

It can be grown, but a glance at the management required against the background of conditions in Thailand (i.e. rainfall pattern, soil types, insect populations, fertilaser requirements ect ect....) versus what can be achieved/obtained with other forage type crops, quickly shows Alfalfa ranking at far end of the "best options for Thai conditons" chart.

Growing a forage crop in rubber plantations is practised in Thailand until that is, the rubber tree canopy becomes suffciently dense to cut off the sunlight (I guess around 4 - 5 years - beleive me, some rubber plantations can get so dark that harvesting with headlamps in daytime is not unusual).

But how alfalfa would fit in with a rubber tree crop - I just don't know (I know nothing about rubber trees and how there water/soil requirment would fit in with that required by alfalfa).

Alfalfa - would not be on my list of options as aforage crop - fresh or ensiled. Its my opinion that better alternatives exist for conditions in Thailand.

Tim