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…

New post discusses the importance of preserving the wisdom of forest stewardship for future generations.

"….One of the realizations I’ve come to having worked many hours in the woods, is that forestry and agroforestry are inherently humbling practices, because when we enter the world of trees and forests, we have to look beyond years and decades, and start thinking about centuries. Many of the consequences of the choices we make (good or bad) in our lifetime, won’t be seen…

The Pennsylvania Grazing Lands Colalition (PAGLC) is partnering with USDA, Dickinson College Farm, and Wyebrook Farm to investiage applications of silvopasture practices in Pennsylvania in order to provide the state's farmers with technical guidance. Check out this informational video to find out more about the project and silvopasture in…

As a follow-up to the webinar announcement below, the following silvopasture webinars have been archived on the Cornell ForestConnect youtube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/ForestConnect     …

Orefice Silvopasture Abstract.pdf 

I am an Assistant Professor at Paul Smith’s College, in the Adirondacks of New York, and am conducting research in conjunction with the University of New Hampshire to assess the…

Webinar connection details for Wednesday June 4, 2014

Register here to receive direct notice of webinars.

Silvopasture is an agroforestry practice that sustainably produces timber, livestock, and forage on the same land.  Current technologies, such as portable electric fence and management intensive rotational grazing enable managers options not available in previous decades.  A key…

Dear Silvopasture Ning Member:

You may be interested in the information below that provides details and the link for you to obtain your unique “registration id” for this month’s webinar.  Note that webinars are live at noon and 7PM, for an hour each, but the meeting space is reserved from noon until 8PM.   The topics for May and June address the development of silvopasture via trees into pasture (May 21) and growing forage in woodlands (June 18).…

In 2014 I’ll be conducting research to document and describe silvopastures and their management in NY and New England. The existence, extent, and type of silvopasture systems in the northeast is currently unknown. The series of interviews and inventories which will take place as part of this research will document and make available specific experiences of farmers with the practice of silvopasture in the region.  It will also document the structural and…

We will collect copies of presentations from speakers who presented at the 2nd NE Silvopasture Conference.  Comments and thoughts from participants are quite welcome.

Pasture Into Woodlands (Smallidge)

Hello all,

I work for the USDA National Agroforestry Center, and we are looking for a few farms that would be willing to host a visit from policymaker-types in DC in the future - to show what silvopasture is, and the role agroforestry can play in providing food/products as well as addressing economic, social, and environmental challenges of today. If you would be willing to host such a visit - and are located 2 hours or less from DC, please email me at…

Peter and I recently had the opportunity to present a day-long workshop on silvopasturing at the Stone Barns Center in the lower Hudson Valley.  The Stone Barns Center (www.stonebarnscenter.org) is located on the former Rockefeller dairy farm, and today serves as a showcase of "sustainable food systems". …

Thank you to the 40+ who were able to attend the workshop last Friday in McVeytown.   The handouts used for the workshop are attached below as .pdf files.  -- Brett

• Silvopasturing.pdf…

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that MING needs to perform some simple but necessary maintenance on this site on Wednesday, March 27. They will need to take the site down at 10 pm Pacific for about 3 hours during which they will simply show a message asking folks to check back later. Thanks in advance for your patience while they tune up the site!

During the "silvopasture day course" trainings last August, we expressed the need to reduce forest stand stocking levels to about 60 sq. ft./acre of basal area (approximately 50% relative density, depending on the stand type) in order to achieve "good" forage productivity of the more shade tolerant cool season grasses.  For more information on this, refer to the .pdf file attachment titled "Creating Quality Silvopastures" from the August blog post on the day courses - or read the section on…