Potato crop eaten by cows

[kt144]

Hi,

My husband and I decided to plant a crop of potatoes for the first time this year. Unfortunately, the cows broke in and have eaten the tops off the shaws. There are still about 4 inches left of the shaws but will they still grow or is that the crop ruined?!

[self-contained]

Hello And I thought my slugs were bad!

What kind of potatoes did you plant and when did you plant them? Depending on the variety, they may either be close to harvest anyway (and end up edible but perhaps a bit undersized) or have a few weeks growing left to do with a chance to catch up a bit. I'm no expert (wiser heads will be along shortly, I am sure) but unless you are in need of the space, I would leave them alone and see what happens.

[Penellype]

They will probably be ok, although you may well get a smaller crop.

[kt144]

It’s Kerr’s pink that we planted, they’ve still got a lot of growing to do, they’re not due for harvesting until October. Hopefully we’ll still get some spuds 爛

[4Shoes]

Will be interesting to see. My experience is that Kerrs Pink have a lot of shaws. Suspect if you give them a feed and plenty of water, will recover somewhat. Nice flowery potato when backed.

[bikermike]

You'd need a very big beer trap to stop a cow

potatoes are pretty hardy, I'd expect them to be fine. You might even find that in this dry weather it's a help as it stops them drying out as much - I don't suppose any survived un-pruned to compare?

Have you told the farmer what they ate? potato greens can be poisonous to humans (one of the first time the things were brought to this country, the hapless cook cooked the greens not the tubers, and lots of Elizabethan bigwigs were quite sick). Do they have any effect on cows

Mike

[cheops]

After googling this I’ve read potato plants can make sheep, pigs and cattle extremely sick and may even cause death.

[Nicos]

Most years the frost kills off entirely the top growth of my spuds and they do come back.
As already suggested...I would give them extra water and a bit of general feed to kick start them.
Be interesting to hear the outcome of both your spuds ...andthe cows ( have you let the farmer know ?)

Out of interest....

"Abstract : Data are given for yield and chemical composition of potato haulms of a number of varieties of potatoes, harvested at various times, and used fresh or as silage or hay. The toxicity of potato haulm for cattle is discussed. Fresh haulms need to be used with care. ' Silage prepared from potato haulms can be fed in quantities of about 20 kg. per day to dairy cows; no evidence of toxicity was obtained. Potato haulm hay can be fed to cows at the rate of 4 to 5 kg. per day; artificially dried haulms can also be used.
A warning is given of the danger of poisoning if the potatoes have been sprayed with Bordeaux mixture for blight ...,"

From this site...
https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/...ct/19461403641

[kt144]

Thanks for your responses! It’s our own cows and they have been absolutely fine since eating the shaws. I’ll try giving the crop a feed and see how things go - time will tell!