Progress report for FNC24-1421
Project Information
I grew up on a farm in Peoria County, Illinois, where I raised pigs to help finance my college education. I studied chemical engineering and earned a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. degree from Stanford University. After completing post-doctoral research in Europe, I returned to the US where I pursued a career in biotechnology. I am semi-retired now.
I felt a calling back to the land that I love so much when I inherited my father’s farm in 2019. I jumped in with both feet, and have lived and worked half of each year on the farm since then.
My father farmed with an environmentally sensitive ethic and I wanted to carry on his legacy. I first focused on improving 60 acres of tillable land by working with a local farmer to transition to certified organic row crops. I also implemented conservation practices including a denitrifying bioreactor, prairie strips, and a dry dam.
Now my focus has shifted to the 110 wooded acres on my 176-acre farm. Dad had cattle until 2007, when he sold the cows and then passively managed the woods. Unfortunately, the woods have since been overtaken by invasive species, predominantly bush honeysuckle. I would like to restore the woods to native oak savannah, a multiyear endeavor that includes many steps.
I hired a forester to write a forest management plan, completed in December 2022. The first step was to build forest access trails, which were completed in September 2023. The next step is to control bush honeysuckle. I would like to avoid the use of herbicides, despite their widespread acceptance, because I want to protect the environment from toxic chemicals.
My role is to design the study, find and coordinate contractors, oversee implementation, analyze results, and manage the budget. I am a project manager by profession, and my project management skills enable me to successfully manage this farm project the same way I successfully manage biotechnology projects. The players are different, but the tools are the same.
Several collaborators have agreed to work with me on this project. Please see the “Measuring Results” and “Metrics” sections for their names and roles.
I feel significant responsibility to be a good steward of the land. Right now, the woods are gradually becoming a monoculture of invasive bush honeysuckle. This grant would help me move the needle toward a much healthier forest.
Prescribed burning is an important forest management tool, but a
heavy infestation of invasive bush honeysuckle (Lonicera
spp.) removes that tool from the toolbox. Bush honeysuckle kills
herbaceous groundcover, which is required fuel for a prescribed
fire.
Bush honeysuckle blocks sunlight to the forest floor by leafing
out first in the spring and keeping its leaves longest in the
fall. Additionally, it creates a dense understory that shades the
forest floor during the growing season. Honeysuckle also takes
moisture and nutrients away from native plants. A severe
honeysuckle infestation results in little, if any, herbaceous
groundcover underneath. A prescribed burn, necessary to improve
forest health, is simply not possible because there is no fuel
for a fire.
The problem to be solved is how to control bush honeysuckle in an
environmentally sound, sustainable way, that is, without the use
of herbicides. To be successful, the control method must reduce
honeysuckle sufficiently to allow establishment of enough
herbaceous groundcover for a good quality prescribed burn in the
future.
Objectives:
- Compare non-herbicide methods for control of invasive bush
honeysuckle on 20.6 acres divided into five test plots.
Treatments include targeted goat grazing, manual mechanical
cutting, and machine shredding. - Evaluate the effectiveness of lightly seeding native grasses
during goat grazing to determine if seeding enhances herbaceous
groundcover - Assess which methods promote sufficient herbaceous
groundcover to enable a future prescribed burn - Determine which method, if any, should be expanded to larger
acreage on my farm - Share findings with the community to encourage
environmentally sound approaches for brush control
Solution:
Two areas, A1 and A2, have been identified within 110 wooded
acres, and divided into five test plots (see attached image).
Adjacent area A5 will be used as an untreated control for the
study. Areas A1 and A2 both have steep ravines (up to 60% slope)
with incised creeks running through the bottoms. All areas have a
thick understory of bush honeysuckle, a severe infestation. The
table below summarizes the study design.
|
Method number |
Test plot |
Acreage |
Pretreatment (winter 2023) |
Treatment 1 (spring 2024) |
Treatment 2 (fall 2024) |
Treatment 3 (spring 2025) |
|
1 |
A1a |
5 |
None |
Goats&Cut |
Goats |
TBD |
|
2 |
A2a |
4.8 |
None |
Goats |
Cut |
TBD |
|
3 |
A1b |
5 |
None |
Goats |
Goats |
Goats&Cut |
|
4 |
A2b |
4.8 |
None |
Goats |
Goats&Cut |
TBD |
|
5 |
A1/2e |
1 |
Mulch |
Goats |
Goats |
TBD |
In the table, “Mulch” means shredding with a mulching head on a
skid steer (a flat, narrow area at the edge of A1 and A2 is
machine accessible). “Goats&Cut” means after goats have
grazed for a week or so, then manually cut honeysuckle taller
than goat-graze height to near ground level. “Cut” means manually
cut all honeysuckle with chain saws and hand tools to near ground
level. “TBD” means to be determined based on treatment
effectiveness in 2024.
Goats can graze to a height of six feet, whereas honeysuckle
grows up to 15 feet. Therefore, mechanical cutting is included in
each method to drop tall honeysuckle to near ground level.
Targeted goat grazing will be managed by Barnyard Weed Warriors Iowa,
a firm that owns the goats and takes responsibility for all
aspects of goat grazing. Goats will be allowed to graze in mobile
paddocks with portable electric fencing and a solar-charged power
source. When the goats have sufficiently grazed an area, the
fencing will be moved to the next grazing area.
Areas A1 and A2 will be grazed sequentially using at least 100 adult doe goats at a stocking rate of 50 to 100 goats per acre. The fencing (one to two acre paddocks) will be moved when the goats have sufficiently grazed the paddock. The direction of grazing will be reversed each season, i.e., A1 then A2 in spring and A2 then A1 in fall. Goat grazing 20.6 acres is expected to take up to 30 days for the first treatment, and less time for subsequent treatments.
Spring grazing will defoliate brush while fall grazing will
defoliate but also allow the goats to eat honeysuckle berries.
After passing through the goats’ digestive tracks, honeysuckle
seeds may no longer be viable.
To test the value of seeding, native grass seed (~1 lb/acre) will
be hand broadcast on half of each test plot during grazing in
spring 2024. Goat hooves should help push seeds into the soil.
This study should answer the question of which method, with or
without seeding, provides the best preparation for a future
prescribed burn.
Research
This section will be updated following year one of the project.
This section will be updated following year one of the project.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
This section will be updated following year one of the project.