Some breeds are able to utilize a wider range of forage and conditions, whereas others are not as willing to be as flexible. In addition to choosing the right type of animal for the system, careful selection of the specific breed is an essential task. You can see from the above list that most of the problems can be avoided by doing proper assessment of the land and engaging with the animals to ensure they are moved before doing harm. Poultry: could scratch or root down to bare soil and damage roots and plantings.Īnimals can do a lot of good, or a lot of harm. Sheep & Goats: depending on forage type could overgraze the landscape and/or strip the bark off young trees, killing them. Pigs: could root and trample desired vegetation and make a moonscape of your woods or pasture in a very short about of time. Animals are incredible at what they do, but it cannot be overstated that they have just as much potential to do good as they do harm. Some of the potential risks include:Ĭows: excessive stocking/duration with their weight could damage soil, tree roots, and cause erosion, also prone to easily destroy young trees. It’s critically important from the outset that the appropriate animal is chosen for a given site in order to reduce the potential of inflicting damage to the landscape. Animals are matched to land type and stage of succession.Less surprising is that animals also do better, benefitting from the cooling effects of shade, especially in the hot summer months. Remarkably, research has shown that some pasture grasses actually perform better under partial shade. In any case, a balance has to be struck so that all parts of the system are optimized. Fast growing species such as locust, alder, willow, and poplar offer an advantage because they can quickly grow above browse height, which allows for faster integration with grazing management. Trees can be planted in rows, clusters, or evenly spaced in an orchard-like planting. In the pasture, the goal is to add trees without blocking too much light from hitting the ground, which could suppress forage growth. Trees could also produce fruits and nuts for foraging, such as chestnuts or persimmons, which animals could harvest once they fall to the ground.
Shrubs and trees meant as fodder for livestock. Sheep graze a Honey Locust Silvopasture at the Virginia Tech research farm. thin a bunch of trees) to support the establishment of forages, which include grasses, legumes, forbs, and If starting with forest, the farmer needs to change the ecology (i.e. The only land types we might consider avoiding silvopasture are sensitive areas such as wetlands and healthy, maturing hardwood forests that might be best left to their own process of succession. Of course, establishing it in existing forest is a very different process in many ways than bringing the trees into open pasture. One of the nice aspects to silvopasture is that one can establish a system on almost any type of land. Silvopasture can be established in existing woodlands, or trees can be brought into pasture.There must be thought, planning, and intention as the farmer designs the system. This article outlines six of the key considerations for getting started in Silvopasture.
In reading about silvopasture, you will see again and again that that system is not just “throwing animals” into the woods, or planting some trees in the pasture. Whether you choose to graze sheep in a Christmas tree farm, move cows through a walnut plantation, or graze chickens though an apple orchard, several key principles apply. Many farms already work with livestock, and making good use of forested land for multiple yields is highly beneficial to the farmer.
Within the practice of agroforestry, or mixing trees with agricultural production, the concept of silvopasture has some of the broadest appeal.
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