Efficient Leaf-dense Tree/Shrub Silage Production from Field Edges: Climate-resilient Winter Forage Supplement for Cattle, Sheep, and Goats

View the project report

Commodities

• Animals: bovine, goats, sheep
• Animal Products: dairy, meat

Practices

• Animal Production: feed rations, winter forage

Irregular precipitation is decreasing reliability of grass-based forage.  European traditions and recent studies ( Gabriel 2019; Hanson 2020^a&b) indicate that climate-resilient Northeastern trees and shrubs have potential to bridge critical storage shortfalls, while contributing ecological/climate services.  Our studies (Hanson 2020^a&b) pointed to sticking-point of labor-time with suggestion of younger/lower growth, and exciting potential for mechanically processed leaf-silages if wood content can be reduced. 

Karl Hallen, SUNY Willow Biomass Project, is beginning to fabricate a chain-flail leaf-separator this winter, to produce low-wood-content leaf-silages.  Our project will complete, trial and perfect this equipment using feedstock from ground-based power-tool harvests of woody broadleaf growth along field edges, on two farms plus MOFGA’s Common Ground. 

We will feed/not feed leaf-silage thus produced to measure how much cattle, sheep and goats eat, how much less hay they eat, and effect on milk quantity.  Those results plus labor-time per yield, costs, nutritional analyses, conventional forage comparison, and bedding-woodchip byproduct, will clarify utility/feasibility of field-edge production of Northeastern tree silages. 

The chain-flail leaf-separator may be offered through MOFGA’s Shared-Use Equipment program, and certainly through machine plans in our Final Report.  Along with improving harvest-speed and product density, leaf separation will streamline yield-edible-portion/acre measurements such as SARE FNE18-897 Demo Plot 2^nd harvest in 2024-5.    

This farmer-project precedes collaborative UVM/UNH ideas for trials of broadleaf silage in TNF (feed-mixing system used by large cattle producers), SUNY idea of leaf-silage as byproduct of willow biomass trials, and Lucas Tree interest in roadside leaf-silage production for broader community feed security.

This project seeks to complete/perfect machinery and test methods for efficient field-edge production of improved nutrient-dense broadleaf tree/shrub silage, analyse nutrition, trial how much cattle, sheep and goats will eat as climate-resilient winter supplement, and assess utility/feasibility in comparison to conventional forages.  

We will: 

1.  Complete/perfect Karl’s chain-flail leaf-separator.  

Report/provide:  

• • Costs of new/used components, labor;
  • Leaf/woodchip proportion plus textural photo per species/age/diameter/length feedstock; 
  • Machine, final diagram, photos, video.  

2.  Obtain Laboratory Results.  

• • Assess safety of fresh-stripped or ensiled:  cherry, maple, box elder;  
  • Examine leaf-silage nutrition alongside animal intake; 
  • Examine changes, fresh to ensiled. 

3.  Harvest broadleaf silage from  3 field-edge sites with 5- to 20-year growth of 8+ broadleaf tree/shrub species using power tools and leaf-separator.

• Collect/pack/seal/label leaf-silage in barrels.  
• Summarize:  species stem-tallies, labor-times, costs, leaf-silage yields. 

4.  Offer/don’t offer cattle, sheep and goats unlimited weighed amounts of leaf-silage before usual rations for repeated trial-periods, plus two short trials.  

Measure:

• • How much they eat. 
  • Change in amount of grass-hay they eat.  
  • Effect on cow and goat milk quantity.

5.  Compare to other available forages:   

• • Labor & costs per animal utilization, per nutrition, and per yield. 
  • Farmer-participant observations.