silvopasture

[KevinN]

I've been toying with adding some trees to my pastures. For forage, pasture health, shade and protection. The species most commonly used are black locust, chestnut, mulberry, filbert, forage apple and a few others I can't recall. Any idea if this would affect the flavor of a grass finished animal. How about blk locust toxicity? Anybody with any experience?

Kevin

 

[M.Magis]

Honestly, I can't think of any legit reasons to want trees in a pasture, assuming there's already some shade available. They use way too much water and nutrients and provide almost no forage. Certainly not enough to change flavor of meat. They'll eat the handful of leaves within reach, and that'll be it until the tree makes new ones weeks or months later.

 

[Banjo]

My dad used to say you could cut off locust tree limbs and let cattle eat the leaves if you needed forage. Sort of like clover. If you had some small trees that had a large canopy or just plant in a fence row north to south so you could have some afternoon shade.

 

[KevinN]

Take a look at the concept of Silvopasture...it's interesting and I'm just exploring the idea.

 

[kenny thomas]

It can work in the south when planting longleaf pine but using any hardwoods I'm not sure about it.

 

[Bigfoot]

Hate to confess, but I hate trees. I've succesfully elimanated every tree on my place thats not in the woods.

 

[kenny thomas]

Hate to confess, but I hate trees. I've succesfully elimanated every tree on my place thats not in the woods.

I left enough trees in each pasture for shade. Mostly Persimmon with a few Cedar when there was nothing else. Cut everything else. Fenced the cows out of the woods after I had the trees cut and chipped the tops.

 

[Lucky_P]

Unless you fence the cows away from them, good luck ever getting anything other than a spiny honeylocust or bodock/Osage Orange up big enough to cast any shade. The cows'll keep 'em browsed down to nothing.

 

[wbvs58]

We have a tree over here that graziers are planting in rows for fodder. It is a legume tree and good weight gains can be achieved once a bug has been innoculated in the rumen. Mostly in tropical/sub tropical areas.
It is called Leucaena. We also have Mulga in some western areas that can be pushed for fodder in drought and it regenerates very well but now with big restrictions on what we can knock over graziers have to jump through hoops to get approval for what they have done for over a century.

Ken

 

[MO-Ruminants]

Allan Nation used to remind us of the escaped cow that's been living in a woodlot and is fat as a butterball. Tree roots can reach minerals grass cannot. Perhaps easier to add pasture to woods than woods to pasture?