I'm planting a mixture of trees, closely spaced, on a open patch of land that I haven't had much luck converting to pasture. The horrible hay season of last year made me think of the resiliency of trees and how they use trees during drought in Australia and NZ.
I'm planting Ash, Mulberry, Poplar, Willow, Black Locust, and Honey Locust. My plan is to pollard them & feed to the livestock, eventually letting the livestock in to forage.
In the meantime, I'm pollarding existing trees on my property to get a feel for it. I'm hoping the regrowth is easier to harvest then the first cut which is a bit of a pain. I'm getting several yields out of the pollarded trees, livestock fodder, bolts for mushrooms, a bit of firewood, and opening up the canopy.
I've started with some beech and the cows & sheep really liked it.
Two questions:
1: Are the only trees to stay away form Maple and Cherry? Is Striped Maple bad too?
2: Can anyone ID this tree for me?
I think it's some type of willow. Not very large - maybe 20 feet. It grows right at my pond edge
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looks like two plants in the picture. The conifer seedling appears to be a larch.
Tree fodder can certainly be a good quality and opportune feed for most livestock. I came across this article on how trees are used to feed animals in areas where forages aren't an option. http://www.grahamandrews.com/fodder_trees.html
Some personal observations regarding tree fodder:
I remember you telling the story about the cattle dying from wilted cherry at a conference a few years ago but I didn't recall the selenium deficiency -just that everyone was panicked about a possible new cattle disease.
I do know that I have been slightly skeptical of the poison lists because they always include black locust which cows, sheep & goats are clearly fine with.
I'll proceed cautiously, but with a little more confidence. I've got a lot of striped maple to get rid of so it' be great to use it as fodder.
Any thought on putting the leaves and small (1/4") branches thru a chipper? I was thinking that at least what they don't eat would break down quicker and avoid the slash accumulation you mentioned.
No, the first pic is of a leaf, and the second pic is of the whole tree. Definitely not a conifer, some kind of willow. Those little pine needle looking thing are seeds or catkins or something.
Brett Chedzoy said:
looks like two plants in the picture. The conifer seedling appears to be a larch.
Just my own observation but my stock will eat the leaves and petiole, not the actual stems, I would think chipping the stems into the mixture would increase the fiber too much as there would be a lot more stem to leaf ratio. I also wonder how much of the stems would be digestible fiber, which may cause your stock to actually loose weight with a full belly. In some ways similar to corn silage that is chopped when the fiber is too high or does not ensile properly.
CJ Sloane said:
I remember you telling the story about the cattle dying from wilted cherry at a conference a few years ago but I didn't recall the selenium deficiency -just that everyone was panicked about a possible new cattle disease.
I do know that I have been slightly skeptical of the poison lists because they always include black locust which cows, sheep & goats are clearly fine with.
I'll proceed cautiously, but with a little more confidence. I've got a lot of striped maple to get rid of so it' be great to use it as fodder.
Any thought on putting the leaves and small (1/4") branches thru a chipper? I was thinking that at least what they don't eat would break down quicker and avoid the slash accumulation you mentioned.
I think the palatability/digestibility of the stems may depend on the species and age. New growth certainly look more tender and with willow I have watched them eat the whole branch if it's tender.
I don't think chipping even the small stuff would pencil out in any way, shape or form. Might make things look prettier, but wouldn't accomplish much in terms of improving the silvopastures. Picture below of a current thinning at Cornell's Arnot Forest where the "best if left, and cut the rest". Trees are utilized to 4" diameter. The slash (residues) wouldn't impede livestock grazing much (especially at high densities) and should break down quickly.
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