Here's what I was getting at. To manage invasive or undesirable plant species, we have to think about what is happening with those plants, their seasonal life cycles, how they grow and reproduce if we are going to (control or eradicate them) *--and it doesn't matter whether you use livestock to do the management or chemicals. They both do the same thing and they both work for the same reason, and it's not specifically because the plants have had their foliage removed.
Imo, mowing is counterproductive if not done right and done at the right time of year, reason being, you are also cutting down valuable forage your animals need. In many cases, mowing doesn't stop growth of invasives--it encourages growth--and reproduction, unless you use good sound management practices based on what that invasive is doing, and what makes it so stubborn.
* control or eradicate There IS a difference, and even the most successful herbicide and/or organic recommendation resources recognizes this. In many--if not most cases, people who think they have eradicated a perennial invasive (or in the case of blackberry--a biennial) simply have it under control. It's still there, with it's root system stored full of starches, waiting to come back, and they can do it for years and years, playing the waiting game. Depriving that root system of it's starches, whether with chemical application or intensive grazing is imperative in KILLING it. Otherwise, it's simply being controlled. Starch storage enables the plant (even trees) to be able to kickstart growth in the spring or early summer--the plant converts the starch to sugars--energy. Nothing in the plant world grows without energy. Starch storage begins near the end of the foliage and fruits/seed bearing season. With trees and woody brush (including blackberry) it happens in the few weeks right before the leaves begin changing colors, and by the time the leaves have dropped, the root system is filled with starch (in blackberry, starch is mostly stored in the root crown and just below the crown) . The exception of course, is evergreen, but even they store starches in winter--they stay green, photosynthesis continues, but at a reduced rate.
This website desperately needs a forage and pasture section, one in which all methods of growth and management can be openly discussed without the risk of getting a nastygram from moderators or admin. Regardless of what forage eating species we raise, we are are grass farmers first, and livestock producers second. If we can't or don't raise grass, we can't raise forage eating, milk producing animals
