Made in the Shade - Using Silvopasture Research and On-farm Demonstrations to Advance These Sustainable Agroforestry Systems

Made in the Shade - Using Silvopasture Research and On-farm Demonstrations to Advance These Sustainable Agroforestry Systems

Summary

We have had a number of successes with the “Made in the shade” project. A survey to understand agent perceptions of silvopasture has been completed and these data were used to complete a non-thesis master’s degree. The next step for this work will be getting it into a journal publication. Research site development was limited by the pace of land conversion at a research site and lack of a graduate student, but these issues have been resolved and we are on track to implement the study, and data from other small plots are being collected. In addition, data on animal performance in these systems have been collected and initial findings reported at a regional meeting. A hiccup with establishing a demonstration site encouraged us to take a different route to obtain funding, and although this will set us back in time, it is allowing us to create a larger set of silvopastures which will have high visibility. We also have developed a website to explain silvopastures and to provide resources for folks interested in these practices. One of the most impactful efforts we have had has come from significant interaction with high school and college students, many of whom are inclined to go back to the farm. We have been able to teach about silvopastures, to have the students meet producer collaborators who can tell their stories about implementation, and we have had the students on the ground working with silvopasture development as part of this project.

Objectives/Performance Targets

EVALUATION

Spring 2014

The review team will be assembled and provide feedback for the proposed plans before research begins. Modifications will be made as needed.

SURVEY RESEARCH

Spring 2014

Complete adjustments to MIZE’s pilot survey used with Virginia’s technical service providers (TSPs). Conduct regional survey of TSPs to as part of a study adoption of silvopasture practices – MIZE, under guidance of MUNSELL, FREY, FIKE).

Summer 2014

TSP data aggregated and analyzed (MIZE) and thesis completed. Survey tool reoriented for study of producer/land-owner adoption; targeted producer communities reached through the region’s state extension agents, Va State University’s Small Farm Outreach Program, and the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition (MUNSELL, FREY, FIKE, CRUTCHFIELD).

Fall 2014–Spring 2015

MIZE will defend thesis – including a comparison of adoption of silvopastures as it compares with adoption of no-till practices – and complete corresponding journal articles.

MCKAY, under the guidance of MUNSELL, FREY, FIKE, will compile and analyze the data in fall and spring.

SILVOPASTURE ESTABLISHMENT RESEARCH (TEUTSCH and FIKE)

Spring 2014

Small plot forage studies: research on forage establishment and production under mixed hardwoods begins (TEUTSCH).

Tree establishment studies: research on tree establishment and production using novel trees and tree combinations in pasture systems begins (FIKE).

Summer 2014

Small plots: Measures of forage establishment continues; yield and nutritive value measures begin (TEUTSCH).

Tree establishment studies: (baseline) forage measures will be collected (FIKE)

Grazing research: Animal performance and behavior in comparison of silvopasture systems with open pastures begins (FIKE).

Sample analyses for these studies begin (FIKE and TEUTSCH).

Fall 2014

Measures of forage production and nutritive value from small plot research continues (TEUTSCH).

Ag Technology students (under supervision of FIKE) conduct measures of forage yield in new silvopastures.

DEMONSTRATION and OUTREACH EFFORTS

Spring 2014

A two acre silvopasture demonstration site will be established on a collaborating limited-resource producer’s farm.

Summer 2014

Initial on-farm demonstrations will be arranged with producer collaborators and coordinated with NRCS personnel (DANIEL) and the Small Farm Outreach Program (CRUTCHFIELD) along with project investigators (FIKE, FREY, MUNSELL, TEUTSCH). Research also will be demonstrated in research center field days and web video and presentations will be developed.

Summer 2014-Fall 2015

A web application to model silvopastures on producer farms will be developed (SFORZA). The model will be tested against measures from research and producer farms and demonstrated at field days.

Accomplishments/Milestones

EVALUATION

Evaluations were provided by a team of researchers, technical service providers and farmers. Responses generally were very positive, and we will revisit our plans with them in 2015.

SURVEY RESEARCH

The planned survey of Southeast regional extension agents was prepared and delivered in summer/fall of 2014. Survey results were collected and used to prepare a non-thesis Master’s degree for project participant, Tim Mize, and this was completed as scheduled.  The survey was conducted in order to understand agent attitudes about different farm production practices and their opinions regarding silvopastoral practices and their potential value for farming systems. We are still working to do a more thorough analysis of the data and anticipate preparing and submitting a manuscript for publication later in 2015 or early 2016.

Student work (McKay) on surveys of producers regarding adoption was dropped from the plan of work after the budget was cut.  Survey work of limited resource producers may face additional challenge since co-PI FREY took another job in Fall 2014.

SILVOPASTURE ESTABLISHMENT RESEARCH

Small plot forage studies were begun in 2014 by FIKE in Blacksburg, VA, and initial data on forage type, yield, and nutritive value have been collected. This work is in addition to work planned for the project. However, work planned by TEUTSCH for Blackstone, VA, has been delayed because site preparation was not completed by summer 2014 and a graduate student for this work was not in place. Site preparation has been completed, a student has been recruited, and preparations for this and other work on forage production in silvopastures have begun.

Tree establishment studies and silvopasture demonstrations were to be conducted at two locations, and these efforts were to be paid for by the Va. Department of Forestry. Due to a lack of funds, silvopasture establishment could be supported only at one site, the Catawba Sustainability Center, in Catawba, VA. That demonstration site is about twelve acres, and different establishment practices and silvopasture arrangements are being demonstrated. The lack of funding for the second site, Clermont Farm, a state historic property in Berryville, VA, is not a complete showstopper, however. This situation encouraged us (Va Tech, Clermont farm management, and the local Va. Department of Forestry) to develop a plan to acquire NRCS support through EQIP funding. This plan was approved in January 2015 and will allow us to develop a larger (~30 acre) research and demonstration site over 2015-2016, and we will add more silvopasture demonstration work there as part of this plan over the next two to three years.

The established site at Catawba, VA, was planted with trees for an establishment study and for silvopasture demonstration in spring 2014. Initial data have been collected on tree growth and mortality and there are some marked differences among species in terms of establishment success. Site variability, coupled with the need to develop specific fertility and management plans for the systems have left us to defer the planned baseline data on forage yields until after these demonstration sites are “up and running”.

Grazing research with sheep in hardwood silvopastures began in summer 2014, and an abstract on this research was presented at the American Society of Agronomy’s Southern Section meetings in Atlanta in February 2015.

DEMONSTRATION and OUTREACH EFFORTS

Initial plans for a two-acre demonstration site on a limited-resource producer’s farm fell through when the participants we lined up decided to go a different direction with their property. Through Virginia State’s Small Farm Outreach Program, another individual was identified and we have begun working with the producer to establish a silvopasture on their site. “Leave” trees for the silvopasture have been marked and the producer is now using leads we have provided to help identify a logger who can make a small site harvest commercially viable. Next steps for the producer include infrastructure development (fencing and water), forage establishment, and planting some trees. After a career as a civil servant, the producer is returning to the farm and has only limited experience in farm operations. However, he is well read and has some family in farming, and we working hard to make sure he has available resources to make this project a success.

Our originial plans for on-farm demonstrations in Summer 2014 were a bit ambitious, as many of these sites were just planted in 2014. We will develop field days on these sites starting from 2015. Research center field days have given time to discussing our efforts with the producer community. A silvopasture website and web video presentations also have been created (http://www.ext.vt.edu/topics/agriculture/silvopasture/), and we will continue to update this site as we progress. Several extension bulletins pertaining to silvopastures at various stages of development also are in process, and these and similar resources can be accessed from the website.

App development also is underway. We have created a set of storyboards for the way the app should appear,and modeling work should begin in late spring or early summer.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

SURVEY

Our survey indicated that agents are overwhelmingly confident (82%) that trees, forages, and livestock could be managed together effectively. Furthermore, the majority of survey participants (75%) did not think it likely or were undecided on the issue of whether livestock diminish timber values.  The bigger issue in our survey results is that of profitability. Most agents (85%) agreed that diversifying agriculture systems is necessary for farm financial viability, and almost 80% responded that silvopasture was a tool that could be used to increase diversity. However, when asked about the profitability of silvopasture compared to traditional livestock grazing systems, almost two thirds (65%) of the agents reported they didn’t know if silvopasture would increase profit margins. And, getting a better handle on the economic issues is part of our planned future effort.

SILVOPASTURE ESTABLISHMENT RESEARCH

While our data on forage production have been limited to date by some site preparation challenges, PhD student Kelly Mercier was able to present a poster on our silvopasture establishment efforts at the American Forage and Grassland Council’s annual meetings in January 2015. The poster described the site and how the systems would be established from within existing soft- and hardwood timber stands at the Southern Piedmont AREC in Blackstone, VA.

Preliminary data on animal gain in hardwood silvopastures from research conducted in summer 2014 were presented in February at the American Society of Agronomy’s Southern Section meetings. Initial findings are that animals can be managed in silvopastures with little or no impacts to production, despite some forage production declines.

We also have collected initial data on tree establishment in pastures and have seen rather interesting responses, with large differences in species sensitivity. The hardwood “leave” trees we planted were tubed and have done well (90+% survival), but high mortality was observed for shortleaf (~20%) and white pine (~40%) while pitch-lob pine was moderately successful (~66% survival); bald cypress trees had better than 90% survival.

DEMONSTRATION and OUTREACH EFFORTS

We are seeing a rise in interest in silvopasture systems in Virginia and regionally, as attested to by several popular press articles by the PIs or about the producers working with SARE on this project. Our outreach efforts include discussion of agroforestry and silvopasture as part of extension talks on forage management, in sessions on saving the Chesapeake Bay, in presentations to new farmers, etc. Our efforts to develop research and demonstration sites are being watched by producers and agents, and some sites will be readily visible by the public at large.

Opportunity to work with students on this project may have some of the greatest long term impacts. PhD student Gabe Pent is taking part in an another grant on extension scholarship. As an extension scholar, he is working with students at Randolph Henry High School to teach them about silvopastures.  The school is unique in that it has wooded acreage that the ag teacher intends to convert to silvopasture as part of their overall forage-livestock system.  Gabe, along with PI Fike (Va Tech), participant JB Daniel (NRCS) and Miller Adams (Va DOF and a member of our silvopasture team) has worked with the students to help them consider what thinning decisions they should make, and the students will be developing a plan of action for developing and implementing silvopasture on the school campus.

We also have targeted college students with coursework and field work. In January, two producers developing silvopastures (including Buck Holsinger, a producer collaborator on this project) spoke to about 30 students in Virginia Tech’s Ag Tech program. These same students, along with another 15 students from Roanoke College were given opportunity to learn firsthand about silvopastures as they worked to replant the conifer “trainer” trees that did not survive the 2014 planting. Although this is not quite what we planned – our original idea was to work with students on forage production measures – it has given us a great platform for discussing and teaching about silvopastures and their management from a “tree” perspective. As most of these students have a crops/forages/livestock background, this gives them a new perspective on land management. And, because a high percentage of the students in this program are planning to return to the farm, there is greater likelihood these practices will be implemented. The PI and the instructor of the course are now planning to make the silvopasture work part of a long-term service learning effort for the Ag Tech students.

Collaborators: