A Closer Look to Guide Farm Use of Tree/Shrub Silages: Per-Species & Ensilement Analyses for Safe, Nutritious Rationing, plus Replicable Trial Results

View the project report

Commodities

• Agronomic: other
• Additional Plants: native plants, trees, other
• Animals: bovine, goats, sheep
• Animal Products: dairy, meat

Practices

• Animal Production: animal protection and health, feed formulation, feed rations, stockpiled forages, winter forage
• Natural Resources/Environment: hedges - woody

Northeastern farmers’ climate risks around grass-based forage
continue. In 2023, water-logged fields caused a first-harvest
scramble in mid-August. Nutritional quality of such late
first-cut is poor, and second-cut was low in volume. Meanwhile,
our weather-resilient SARE FNE 22-013 harvest of field-edge trees
and shrubs yielded plentifully; using the leaf-separator
prototype, we produced 2,500+ gallons of tree/shrub leaf silage
(well over 60-70 planned barrels) in only 1,000 lineal feet of
field edges (our proposal identified 5,700 lf for potential
harvest). We have obtained fresh-frozen/ensiled sample pairs of
23 species so far (6 more than planned). Preliminary SARE
FNE22-013 palatability testing is confirming positive livestock
responses from previous SARE FNE18-897. VTGF mini-grant results
(Hanson 2020 ^b) showed high non-fiber carbohydrates
(NFC), a perfect complement to low-NFC late first-cut hay.

Using this rare bank of forage plus more plants designated
“invasive,” we will: Test 28 species of fresh/ensiled
sample-pairs, for species-specific nutrition plus ensilement
effects; Obtain additional hydrogen-cyanide analyses (only 1
fresh/ensiled pair was budgeted) including wilted and pin cherry
samples; Check relation of ruminant consumption of 6 species
(rather than 2 budgeted) to gallic acid content, and measure
change from ensiling; Use just 7 most plentiful tree/shrub silage
species for our winter dairy-goat/cow trials, to obtain
triplicate nutritional analyses that meet standards for
replicability; and offer farmers this much-needed data both
in-person and with improved web outreach.

Farmers will supplement compromised grass harvests with these
alternative on-farm forages, accurately and safely planning a
nutritious and sufficient winter diet for their ruminant herds.

This project seeks to seize an opportunity for optimal data
collection from SARE FNE22-013’s vast tree/shrub-leaf
fresh-sample and silage “bank” collected in 2023 plus additional
samples, and improve/use web-based outreach, to bridge an
informational gap that is slowing livestock farmers from
productive use of on-site woody perennial forages when weather
challenges interfere with their grass-forage
harvests.  

 We will: 

1. Broaden analyses of nutrition, ensilement and digestibility
   to 28 tree/shrub species including 6 “invasives,;” for
   generalizable findings on ensilement plus per-species info sought
   by Northeastern farmers;
2. Broaden toxin testing with ensiled comparisons to 2 cherry
   and 5 maple species plus sumac, sampling a range of harvest
   dates, wiltedness, and ensilement time-periods, to minimize
   farmer and livestock risk in using these high-yielding species
   common to field edges;
3. Obtain triplicate analyses for 7 silage species fed during
   upcoming winter goat/steer and cow dietary intake/milking trials,
   to encourage further study by meeting academic standards, while
   also increasing confidence for farmer recommendations; and
4. Update, improve and use our website, listserve, and network
   to organizations/other sites serving farmers, to streamline
   provision of this critical alternative forage data.  

Northeastern farmers can then effectively supplement ruminant
rations with vital on-farm forages.