Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
Proposal summary:
Pasture-based livestock producers must adapt their forage
strategies to overcome the increasing frequency, length and
severity of droughts caused by climate change. As of November 28,
2023,
36% of the contiguous US was experiencing moderate to exceptional
drought. Minnesota farmers traditionally count on pasture
from May 1st through mid-October. However,
according to
our state’s Crop Progress Report put out by NASS, in
both 2021 and 2023 less than 20% of pasture and rangeland across
the state was rated “Good” or better from August 1-October
25. In 2023, approximately 45% of pasture was already rated
poor or very poor by the start of August, representing a
60-85-day loss in pasture forage. By September 1st 2023,
nearly 60% of Minnesotan pastures were rated poor to very poor.
Current models predict continued
drying across the country throughout the century. We
need to identify, research, and implement long-term, sustainable
solutions focused on forages that require less water, maintain
the necessary nutrition for livestock, and that can be
scaled. In-pasture leaf fodder systems allow farmers to
source their own high-quality emergency forage while reaping the
benefits of a silvopasture system. This practice allows us
adapt to our current climate, not our past climate.
Project objectives from proposal:
Context:
leaf fodder (20%+ crude protein with an excellent
mineral profile and high palatability),
cultivated for use for silk worms for millennia,
is now being used in many hot-weather climates in
coppicing fields for livestock fodder. Red
mulberry, which is native to southeastern
Minnesota and longer-lived, has the potential to
be a source of excellent leaf fodder in a drop
and feed-in-place biennial or triennial
pollarding system that also allows for taking a
berry crop for human or livestock consumption in
the non-pollarding years. Because resilient
ecologies rely on the synergies between diverse
species, and because, if tested, additional tree
crop species may also prove well-suited for
production of leaf fodder or high-quality fruit
and nut masts, or both, we will also include a
variety of cold-hardy fruit and nut species in
our planting. This kind of system allows us to
embrace the silvopasture concept of raising
trees, forage and livestock on the same land for
the improved health of all three, while also
stockpiling livestock feed via tree fodder for
years of drought when pasture production is
low.
The Trial:
methods and results of previous projects, we will
complete a multi-purpose, long-lived and
multi-specie tree planting in our 40-acre cattle
and hog pasture with the following operational
plans:
-
plant 600
trees, primarily red mulberry seedlings (70%)
but interspersed with groupings of other fruit
and nut trees (30%), including: apple, pear,
serviceberry, persimmon, northern pecan,
chestnut and shagbark hickory -
plant trees
8-10ft apart with T-posts and wire cages to
allow for natural growth but to protect from
livestock and wildlife (can be funded by EQIP
program through NRCS) -
plant trees in
lines to give additional browse-height
protection from cattle and deer via a poly-wire
protection lane at browse height that does not
allow for animal pass-through, but does allow
for grazing up to the tree line (SARE funding
needed for this added protection) -
mulch, weed
and water the tree lines occasionally for the
first two establishment years (SARE funding
needed for this additional establishment
support) - record survival rates and growth
rates for each species at the end of Year 1 and
end of Year 2 - lab-test leaf fodder samples for nutritional
feed value for each species at the end of Year 2 - pollard one-quarter of all red mulberry
seedlings in August of Year 2 to test tolerance
of mid-season leaf fodder harvest; -
one quarter to
one half of all red mulberries will be
pollarded each subsequent year, putting the
pollards on an staggered biennial or triennial
pollard cycle depending on the tree's tolerance
(we may experiment with annual pollarding as
well) -
remove weeding
and watering support for the trees in the third
year, in order to identify the most
drought-hardy trees able to compete and thrive
in a low-input environment -
eventually,
other trees with poor-quality fruit and nuts
will be pollarded for fodder if nutritive feed
values warrant harvest
Replicability:
this type of planting will be easy to
replicate by beginning and experienced
farmers alike, on large and small parcels and
with minimal equipment and
inputs.
Objectives:
establish and maintain in a low-input Upper-Midwest silvopasture
system.
and nut trees that could grow in an Upper-Midwest silvopasture
system, thereby serving the multiple purposes of providing fodder
for livestock, as well as fruit and nut harvests for human and
livestock consumption.
community organization as well as online and through social media