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…

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 current status of silvopasture practices in New York and New England.…

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…