ST. HILAIRE, Minn. (AP) - Farmers and ranchers interested in lowering their fuel costs and exploring the idea of sustainable agriculture may want to take a second look at an old-school way of handling their livestock.

Herding dogs are much more common in the Western Plains and mountain states than they are in the Northern Plains. But here, border collie fans are demonstrating how useful the animals can be, especially for smaller livestock operations.

Michelle Davis lives on a hobby farm near St. Hilaire and owns more than two dozen dogs, 11 of them border collies. She's a professional trainer who regularly participates in obedience, agility and herding competitions. Her farm has chickens and horses, plus a small flock of sheep, which give her dogs real working experience.

"A lot of the people with the border collies do run a couple hundred head of sheep, which mostly supports their pastime of herding their dogs," Davis says. "Most of them who participate in the trials have sheep or cattle because of the dogs. If they got rid of their dogs, they probably wouldn't be in that type of farming anymore."

Davis' dogs also perform in "mutton-bustin"' herding competitions at area rodeos. "I do see people getting interested when they see my dogs at the rodeos," she says proudly.

"They can replace 10 men if you let them. Most of the farmers around here use four-wheelers, which is fine, but it's a lot easier if you have a dog, too, because the four-wheeler just can't cut like the dog can."