Climate Resilient Pastures: Establishing long-lived, multipurpose fodder, fruit and nut trees in an Upper Midwest silvopasture system

Project Overview

FNC24-1404
Project Type: Farmer/Rancher
Funds awarded in 2024: $14,887.00
Projected End Date: 01/15/2027
Grant Recipient: North Fork Farms MN
Region: North Central
State: Minnesota
Project Coordinator:
Emily Buehler O'Leary
Email
North Fork Farms MN

Information Products

Commodities

  • Animals: bovine
  • Animal Products: meat

Practices

  • Animal Production: feed/forage, grazing - rotational, rangeland/pasture management, stockpiled forages
  • Crop Production: silvopasture
  • Education and Training: farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research
  • Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, carbon sequestration, soil stabilization

    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:

    White mulberry 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: 

    Trial Visual

    Informed by the 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:

    We believe 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:
    1. Identify fodder, fruit and nut tree species that are easy to establish and maintain in a low-input Upper-Midwest silvopasture system.
    2. Identify the nutritive value of fodder from a number of fruit 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.
    3.  Share findings with interested sustainable farming community organization as well as online and through social media
    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.