Baa Baa Black Sheep Have You Any Wine

[UC Davis, sheep]

Why I will always have a soft-spot for my Alma Mater:

Trained Sheep Graze Vineyard Weeds

For centuries, farmers have used sheep to graze down unwanted vegetation but, unfortunately, the animals would also snack on crops. So the University of California Cooperative Extension is trying to teach the animals more useful eating habits.

"We have a project to train sheep to have an aversion to grape leaves," said Morgan Doran, Solano County livestock advisor and project leader. "If sheep avoid grapes, they can graze the floor of a vineyard, providing farmers an alternative to using herbicides and mowing."