Buffalo Beans ?

[hillsdown]

Well for the first time ever we have buffalo/yellow beans popping up all over the pastures in this area . It says they are highly toxic yet unpalatable to cattle. Has anyone had a problem with livestock eating these and worse yet dying from it ?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of them...Then in doing some googling it sounds like they are pretty much a Canadian product:

http://plantwatch.fanweb.ca/plant-information/golden-bean

 

[Yanuck]

Well for the first time ever we have buffalo/yellow beans popping up all over the pastures in this area . It says they are highly toxic yet unpalatable to cattle. Has anyone had a problem with livestock eating these and worse yet dying from it ?

Thanks

Good Lord.....they're just a wild flower , they grow all along our pasture on the Red Deer river, never killed a cow yet! they were my Grandma's favourite..breathe in , breathe out! :wink: :lol:

 

[RSL]

Somewhere I have a really good Buffalo Bean picture. If I find it I will post, or I will get a new one as they are everywhere here.
As far as cows eating them and getting sick or dying, don't lose any sleep. We have never lost a cow to them ever, and unless you somehow managed to bale them up and force feed them to your cattle, I doubt you could kill a cow.
Just appreciate them, they make a beautiful spring bouquet for a mom or a wife when you are getting home on cowboy time, rather than when you actually said you would be there. Buffalo beans have the romantic power to invert the problem of a cold meal and a hot temper. :lol:
Other seasonal favourites include pussy willows, crocuses, brown eyes susans (with Yarrow for baby's breath), and Saskatoon berries.

 

[hillsdown]

Well for the first time ever we have buffalo/yellow beans popping up all over the pastures in this area . It says they are highly toxic yet unpalatable to cattle. Has anyone had a problem with livestock eating these and worse yet dying from it ?

Thanks

Good Lord.....they're just a wild flower , they grow all along our pasture on the Red Deer river, never killed a cow yet! they were my Grandma's favourite..breathe in , breathe out! :wink: :lol:

Warning: DO NOT eat the "beans" or any other part of this plant. Golden bean contains poisonous alkaloids that may cause children to become very ill and is suspected of causing death in livestock[/quote].

I read this earlier form the same site as OT posted and have been paranoid ever since. They are everywhere except the hay fields.

Thanks Yanuck I have faith that you know what you are talking about and can now perhaps take a deep breath without hyperventilating. :lol:

Will still try to eradicate as many as possible in the pastures ,although it says that they provide pollen for many different species of butterflies and for honey bees. Can't seem to win no matter how hard we try. :???:

 

[RSL]

hillsdown - DO NOT WORRY. Not sure exactly where you are located, but I am actually largely stunned that Buffalo Beans have never made an appearance before. Don't waste the money spraying them.
They are one sign of real spring...Crocuses usually mean another snow to come...Just enjoy them.

 

[hillsdown]

Thanks everyone . I don't know why we haven't had them here before. Maybe years ago before we bought the place they were around. It says they grow form mold in the soil so I guess after the wet winter and then a very wet summer of 2010 coming off of a drought made they come up.

When the grass finally grows does it choke them out or do they stay all summer as we really have alot. Some places are a field of yellow.

 

[randiliana]

We have pastures that are literally yellow with them in the spring. I think they die off later in the spring. Keep in mind that they are a LEGUME and will fix nitrogen into the soil. The cows don't eat them, and I love to see them.