Hello folks!

I'm looking for the best ways to get trees into active pastures, while having livestock grazing. I haven't yet found an option that is cheap, effective, and low-maintenance enough to really qualify for large-scale plantings. 

I'm also interested in what folks have tried, and what has worked/not worked. 

Here are the current best options I see:

Fool-proof but expensive:…

hi i am new here and looking for advice. i live in extreme northwest ohio and am in my 50's. my goal is to get my 3 angus breeders 1 bull and 6 calves part of my farm to be as self sufficient and low maint. as possible for my retirement.

i am currently putting in high tension perimeter fence utilizing honey locust post cut from my woods. i have 3 -1.5 acre front open pastures with permanent water and am working on fencing and thinning an additional 10 + acres of woods. the wooded…

Cornell's ForestConnect program is facilitating a network of forest vegetation practitioners to identify research needs and collectively build knowledge of safe and effective techniques. This network will focus on vegetation management in forest and woodlot environments using herbicide, mechanical or livestock methods. …

There is no end to the falsehoods, innuendo, and misconception that is offered against the benefits and valueof grass-fed livestock. Here a recent blog, of UK origin, that addresses some of the more common errors of thought. It's well worth the read.

http://quillette.com/2018/04/05/case-sustainable-meat/…

We are offering these webinars to share knowledge and in support of our Kickstarter campaign for a new book on Silvopasture, coming out this June.

Wednesday, February 28

12pm - 1pm EST

The Potential for Silvopasture

Learn about different combinations of animals, trees, livestock from around the world with farmers Steve Gabriel and Brett Chedzoy.

Monday, March 5

12 - 1pm EST

Climate Change…

Even before commercially thinning ~80 acres of the woods on our farm, I had come to appreciate the challenges of controlling the vegetative response to letting in more sunlight. 

In open pastures, the grazier can readily mow, spray or even till and re-seed to deal with noxious weeds and invasive brush. But livestock impact is often the only practical tool for managing vegetation in tree-covered silvopastures.  Consequently, silvopasturing relies on intensive rotation of higher…

Knowledge and information in agriculture is a mix of research, application, and experience that is never from a single individual, but rather a collective experience shared in the minds of many. We all benefit from sharing our experience.

A new book on the Agroforestry practice of Silvopasture, by Steve Gabriel, has the explicit goal of telling the story of what we know - and don’t know – about the concept of integrating livestock production with trees and forestry.

The book…

Our latest publication on silvopasture has been published in the Journal of Forestry. Reach out to me directly if you can't get access and would like a copy. I'm not able to post the full article here due to copyright from the journal.

"Silvopasture—It's Not a Load of Manure: Differentiating between Silvopasture and Wooded Livestock Paddocks in the Northeastern United States"…

I would like to make everyone aware of my most recent publication. It presents forage production information from our silvopasture research in New York.…

Hi folks, I'm new to the forum here. Brett encouraged me to copy and paste a post I did for my blog to this forum. If you want to read it on my blog it can be found HERE. Photo at my blog. I would put the photo in the forum here but they're on my wife's computer...

FYI, the "Garth" I refer to in the post is my brother who co-owns the farm with me. I hope this of interest to others…

Here's a link to the latest paper my colleagues and I have published on silvopasture.  

"Soil and understory plant dynamics during conversion of forest to silvopasture, open pasture, and woodlot" in Agroforestry Systems…

I'm recently back from the World Congress of Silvo-Pastoral Systems held in Evora, Portugal. It was an excellent and inspiring conference. Here are some of the main conclusions from the event organizers (http://www.silvopastoral2016.uevora.pt/):…

Want to get more from your woods? Take a six-week online Woodlot Management course with the Cornell Small Farms Program with extension forester Peter Smallidge and Extension Agroforestry Specialist Steve Gabriel.



Examine the methods to assess forest resources and discuss common woodland activities such as cutting firewood, harvesting logs for mushroom cultivation, and support for wildlife and long-term forest health.



The course runs September 27 to November 1, with weekly…

Announcing #1 of 3 Silvopasture publications from Virginia Cooperative Extension.

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/CSES/CSES-146/CSES-146.html

-Adam

I recently put together a photo guide to Northeastern US silvopasture. This guide is the result of research investigating silvopasture practices on farms in New York and New England. It is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to this complex practice but it should help inform folks about some options. Please feel free to share:…

All,

Here is a link to my latest paper on Northeast silvopasture. It will be coming out in the journal Agroforestry Systems this year, but they made it available online last week. 

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10457-016-9916-0

The document is published as open access so feel free to download and share.  

This forum unintentionally drew an initial concentration of members from the northeastern US, though many folks have since joined from other parts of the country and globe (welcome!).  Silvopasturing practices certainly need to be customized to the local area and situation, but the principals remain largely the same no matter where working trees and livestock are raised together in a sustainable manner. 

In hopes of broadening discussions, participation and what we can learn from…

I've had the best of intentions to be more active on this forum this summer to share my thoughts and experiences with a recent "low grade" timber harvest at our farm to promote silvopasture development.  The harvest wrapped-up a few weeks ago, and I just returned from quick trip to Argentina.  With that behind me, it's time to get some pictures and storied up about the project.  But first, as a bit of background, I've pasted below an article that I was asked to write for the current edition…