As someone who spends a lot of time talking with farmers about planting trees, there’s a certain phrase I’ve heard more than I can count. “Why in the world would someone do that? My granddad spent years clearing the woods so we can farm.”
If you’re reading a grazing publication, I’ll assume you’re a bit more open to new ideas than the typical corn-and-bean farmer. If you’ve converted to grass-fed livestock, chances are your neighbors already think you’re a bit loony. But to plant trees in that pasture? You’d be nuts!
If you have some hesitations about planting trees (not least because several ancestors would roll over in their graves), that’s normal. But here’s the deal: These ain’t your grandpa’s trees. If the trees your grandpa cleared were a rusty jalopy sitting out back with a broken axle, what you can now plant is more akin to a shiny F-150. We’re not talking planting random trees at random places and crossing our fingers that they’ll survive. We’re talking planting the right species with the right genetics in the right places in a way that will compliment your farm.
When thinking about what trees can do for a farm, I like to think about two paths that people can go down. On the one hand, we can plant trees that will add new enterprises to the farm. Here we’re talking about growing timber, fruits or nuts. Planting pecans or English walnuts for their nuts, apples for cider, or black walnuts and black locust for timber. Each one will allow you to diversify the farm operation and develop new income streams.
The other path is to choose trees that will strengthen your current livestock operation. Whether you raise dairy or beef or sheep or hog or poultry or alpacas, you can plant trees that will make what you already do more profitable and resilient. We do this by planting trees that will provide the shade, fodder, windbreak, and nitrogen that will keep your livestock healthier, more comfortable, and better fed than could be done with pasture alone.
Of course, these two paths don’t have to be mutually exclusive. You can focus on adding trees to serve your livestock while also planting a patch of heartnuts or chestnuts. Just keep in mind that planting fruit and nut trees across the whole farm for commercial yield is a whole other game than planting for home use alone.
What is certain is this: When adding trees to pasture, the low-hanging fruit is not fruit (or nuts). The easiest place to start is to hone in on those trees that will take your grazing management up a level. Plant persimmons to drop high-energy fruits packed with vitamins in the fall. Plant black locust to fix nitrogen while letting nice dappled shade cool your livestock and forages. Best yet, plant honey locust for a complete package of nitrogen fixation, light canopy and calorie-packed pods dropped from October through December.
Your grandpa never really had the opportunity to plant trees this way. The information and support and genetics and resources were just so much tougher to come by. Yet if he had pulled it off somehow, you might now have a farm with towering honey locusts feeding the herd through the winter, hybrid oaks for fattening hogs, and apples for pressing into cider. Today, the resources and support and information are all available, ready for you to take grazing up a level.
Next week, Austin writes about tree planting techniques that can survive livestock grazing in the same pasture.