<font color=Green>Bob Evans says "Let cattle eat new grass."
November 27, 2000
Bob Evans: Let Cattle Eat New Grass
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:04 a.m. ET
RIO GRANDE, Ohio (AP) -- Retired restaurateur Bob Evans has a simple
message for struggling cattle farmers: Let them eat grass.
Evans, who once ran a chain of 445 restaurants, points to research showing
that farmers can save money by grazing cattle on new types of grass that can
endure winter weather.
``If I were 20 again, I never would have started a restaurant,'' Evans, 82, told
The Columbus Dispatch on Sunday. ``This is going to make money, boy.''
Because the new grasses are largely self-sustaining, farmers can avoid labor
and equipment costs, Evans said. The grasses also are far cheaper to grow
than the corn and soybeans usually used for feed.
At Evans' Ohio farm, experiments are also being done on turnips that yield
leafy, cattle-pleasing tops.
``It costs 16 cents a day to keep a cow on turnips instead of 75 cents to
$1.50 a day on more traditional management systems,'' said Evans' assistant,
Ed Vollborn
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company |
