forage and minerals

Turning the lactating cows into a pasture of about three acres on the west side of the monastery, which is in the process of being reclaimed from eight-foot pokeweed and briars (a pasture informally known as the 'Calf pasture', meaning it's where we feed hay to the young stock when winter weather is really severe), we notice the wide variety of plants -- grass, forbs and "weeds" -- that make up the knee-high forage which has replaced the poke and canes.  Many, even most, would not be considered forage species, but the lactating cows, moving onto it after two weeks in the timothy and clover predominant in the Spring pasture, are voracious, wading through the tanglefoot  tearing out great mouthfuls of bitter milkweed, young asters and goldenrod,  seedling black locust tops, and bindweed.  And it occurs to us, cooling off for a moment in the shade beside the spring tank, that the cows are balancing their minerals like a chemist, and with greater accuracy and precision than the most practiced pharmacist or naturopath.  And for us, dining on their milk and meat, the benefits must be similar.