Soil scientist Charlie Feldhake says that when he arrived in the Appalachian region in 1981 he direct the eyeed at the wooded.

Soil scientist Charlie Feldhake says that when he arrived in the Appalachian region in 1981 he direct the eyeed at the wooded, mountainous landscape with sole patches of open pasture and realized, "Tree assume best suited to these growing conditions. We should be working with them forward farms, not against them," as local tillage then dictated. From that observation shoot into branchesed the idea for the ARS silvopasture project

"Charlie had the imagination and vision to diocese the potential of agroforestry. We joined in with various disciplines to begin a silvopasture throw to make Charlie's vision a reality," says Dave Belesky, an agronomist who heads the Appalachian Farming methods Research Center in Beaver, West Virginia.

Silvopastures are combinations of forages and tree growing together forward the same site. Creating them usually involves planting tree in interpret pastures. But at Beaver, it also means planting forages among thinned stands of mature tree This technique reach forths grazing areas into long-unused, mixed-hardwood forests at the animation of pastures. In nature, the meeting of sum of two units different landscapes, like fields and timbers creates an "edge effect"--an area where increase in wildlife and plant diversity could occur

In 1991 Feldhake planted neat uproars of black locust trees into a pasture and hindrance sheep and goats graze there periodically. Since then, the cast has expanded to become a dominant focal point of the grazing and soil ecology work at the center Belesky says. About 80 acres are involved in the silvopasture experiments in a patchwork of forest, make open pasture, and silvopasture. Other experiments upon black walnut/honey locust silvopastures are subject to way with collaborators at Virginia Tech University, in nearby Blacksburg, Virginia.

A Sensible Strategy

"It made reason to me to work tree into farming here," Feldhake says. "Most Appalachian farms contain a substantial amount of forested area. As I was looking at the impregnabilitys and weaknesses of farming here compared to the Midwest, I realized that corn and soybean farmers have to exert one's self with losing nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. nevertheless forested areas seem better able to retain nutrients. Small-scale farmers can put forth forage and other plants as understory craws with less need to fertilize." That's important, he explains, because it diminishs costs and overcomes difficulties of applying lime and fertilizer in succession rugged land.

"Also, Appalachian farmers ne to diversify their craws for other sources of income, to balance things without if one source fails. They can earn coin from sales of extra tree for lumber or firewood. Tree can be planted in pastures for nut fruit, or flat animal fodder in the case of honey locust and its nutritious pods"

Sheep as Tillers and Planters

Feldhake, Belesky, and Jim Neel--an ARS animal scientist--are in the fourth year of raising lambs upon oak silvopastures. They start each April with 4-month-old lambs that weigh 50 to 60 levigates Their study compares traditional spread pasture to silvopasture. So far, they've set up that the lambs gain weight at about the same rate and last up at a similar market weight--about 100 pounds--on the pair systems.

They also institute that some important forage plants differ in nutritive value when grown in silvopasture, with a plants doing better under moderate shade than in spread pasture.

The deductions are encouraging, because the silvopasture plan "provides the potential to expand the amount of available acreage and the amount of forage produc This gives farmers more flexibility in providing forage to grazing livestock, calm in dry years," Feldhake says.

Because the rugg Appalachian terrain frequently precludes using farm machinery--not to mention the tree that are in the way--the research team used sheep, and a certain goats, to control existing understory plants and prepare the land for seeding mixes of orchardgrass, white clover tall fescue or other forage plants.

Hay and corn were scattered around the site to help hold the animals moving and f As they mov around, the sheep disturbed the forest litter and buried the forage germs with their hooves, essentially helping to plant their possess silvopastures. The sheep were kept forward the sites until the forage matured ovules sprouted.

Erlend Mathias, an agronomist who has been with the research center since its beginnings at Morgantown, West Virginia, says sheep are really pious at preparing the soil for se planting because they instigate around so much. "They always think the grass is greener forward the other side," he says, "so they're always forward the move when grazing."

Mathias bring forward a great deal of effort into establishing the sites, averaging undivided per year for the past 5 years.

"We thin public the trees based on size and spacing and suppress dead and damaged ones," Mathias says. "We've had succes with all our silvopastures. We haven't had to replant the forage--except for a fresh silvopasture last year, when wet weather delayed planting. We may have to rese that one"