ANON
I live in the country on a small farm. We have livestock and will soon have bees. I will build fence around hives to keep livestock away.
I am planning to plant crops for the bees. I have to consider appropriate forage for the livestock (particularly sheep). I will be planting some buckwheat which is an excellent pollen/nectar source and is suitable for sheep to feed on. By the way, if you haven’t tried it, buckwheat honey is a dark/bold flavored honey - it’s great ! Do you have any suggestions for other crops that will safely serve dual purpose for bees and sheep ?
Kieran there is a project in Western Australia looking to assess different legumes (clovers) as a dual source of nectar and livestock feed. Bell Seeds are part of the trial and have some seed varieties that they sell that meet this need. I guess the answer will be country/location specific so may not be much use in answering your customers question.
How about alfalfa? I know it is good for silage for cows, so maybe for sheep too. If you can let some go to the flowering stage, your bees will love you!
Local Department of Agriculture would be a good starting point.
There are too many variables to give a generic answer. Climate, soil, paddock load and rotation, crops rotation, surrounding flora, pest/weed management, plant considered (or not) to be invasive locally, etc.
