Silvopastoral Management in Minnesota: Assessing soil erosion rate reduction, forage production, animal performance and adoption potential

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1 Silvopastoral Management in Minnesota: Assessing soil erosion rate reduction, forage production, animal performance and adoption potential Sophia Vaughan Master s Candidate Natural Resources Science and Management University of Minnesota, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering

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3 Background Objectives Methods Results Next steps Acknowledgments Overview

4 Enhancing Environmental and Economic Benefits of Woodland Grazing Goal: to assess the adaptability and merits of silvopastoral practice in Central MN Principal Investigator: Diomy Zamora, UMN Extension Research Assistant: Maddie Ford Funding: Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) Three year project (June 2013-June 2016) Three research sites in Cass and Crow Wing County Farmers: Greg Booth, Dan Caughey, Steve Moe Three five-acre paddocks: traditional open pasture, silvopasture, traditional forest

5 Problem One third farm woodland Central Hardwood Region is grazed, but unmanaged, 70% in western United States. In Minnesota, over 213,000 hectares of woodlands are being utilized for livestock grazing, but most woodlands are not properly managed.

6 Extensive deterioration of riparian areas Loss of biodiversity Lowering of taxa population densities Disruption of ecosystem functions Change in terrestrial and aquatic habitats Structure of streambank soil Stream channel morphology Soil compaction, decreased infiltration, greater runoff Non-point source pollution phosphorus and nitrogen

7 Proposed Solution: Silvopasture Silvopasture is the intentional combination of trees, forage plants and livestock together as an integrated, intensivelymanaged system Association for Temperate Agroforestry

8 Research Sites Greg Booth Dan Caughey Steve Moe

9 Assess Environmental Soil Erosion Water Quality Forage Quality and Nutritional Value Plant Species Diversity Assess Economics Livestock Gains Timber Sales

10 Water Quality Two parts: Infiltration and subsurface nutrient transport In the field and in the lab Why Infiltration? Metric of water and soil quality Water availability for root uptake and plant growth Runoff threshold value

11 Infiltration Modified Philip-Dunne falling head infiltrometers Soil infiltration tests collected in the Fall 2013, Spring 2014, and Fall 2014 Coincided with pre-seeding, post-seeding/pregrazing, and post-grazing Each test started with approximately 2600 ml and ran for 30 minutes, or until all water was infiltrated, whichever came first. Falling head measurement recorded every 30 to 60 seconds.

12 Subsurface Nutrient Transport Three groundwater wells installed within each paddock Bromide solution placed within 12 inches of groundwater wells with cow manure Measurements will be taken periodically during the 2015 field season to track the movement of the bromide

13 Lab Portion Two soil profile cores were collected during the 2014 field season Infiltration tests and subsurface nutrient testing will be conducted on soil cores Bromide tracer will be applied to the surface area to represent plug flow Drought and saturated soil conditions

14 Vegetation Biomass Sites divided into five sectors Square meter collection Cut down to ground, dried and weighed Beginning, middle and end of season Species Diversity Transects Complete before and after each livestock introduction 100 ft, identified type and height every 5 to 10 ft

15 Mean Infiltration Rates per Paddock Over Time

16 Booth Soil Type 1: Warba very fine sandy loam 2: Sandwick loamy sand 3: DeMontreville-Mahtomedi-Cushing complex Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Fall 2014

17 Elevation

18 Forage Availability and Quality Silvopasture Traditional Woodland Grazing

19 Average Biomass (tons/ha) Biomass Silvopasture Traditional Woodland Open Pasture Early Mid Late

20 Livestock Average Weight Gain Traditional Forest Farmer Cooperator Traditional Open Pasture Pasture (No Management) Silvopasture Gregg Booth Dan Caughey Steve Moe

21 Major Indicators of Forage Quality CP Forage Quality Ave Quality Standards of Forage, mid season CP = Crude Protein ADF =Acid Detergent Fiber NDF = Neutral Detergent Fiber DDM = Digestible Dry Matter RFV = Relative Feed Value ADF NDF DDM silvo woodland open RFV Ave. Quality Standards of Forage

22 Shannon Diversity Index Diversity Comparison Shannon Diversity Index Evenness: Silvopasture Traditional Woodland Open Pasture

23 NR Professionals Survey How much Natural Resource Professionals know about silvopasture A Lot 2% None 14% n = 45 Some 42% Little 42% 30% Response Rate

24 NR Professionals Survey Barriers to Silvopasture Adoption Not Sure Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly disagree

25 NR Professionals Survey 40 Interest in Learning More Not sure Not interested A little interested Somewhat interested Very interested Silvopasture establishment and management Pasture management Tree management Livestock management

26 NR Professionals Survey No, I will not encourage the practice of silvopasture to others 7% Likelihood to encourage silvopasture I will consider encouraging the practice of silvopasture to others 54% I will continue to encourage the practice of silvopasture to others 32% I will start to encourage the practice of silvopasture to others 7%

27 Natural Resource Professionals Survey 18 Feasible Methods for Establishing Silvopasture Cutting trees in existing graze-wooded land to allow light for forage growth Planting trees into existing marginal pastureland Managing trees on the edge of existing pastures Integrating livestock into existing tree farming systems (e.g., red pine plantations) I do not feel silvopasture is appropriate or feasible on the farm(s) I manage for others I do not know

28 Look at prior land use Lab portion More statistical analysis Next Steps Relationship between infiltration, vegetation and geology Multiple Regression Correlations Analysis of Variance Transects: Releve Method More accurate slope and elevation

29 Acknowledgments Joe Magner, BBE, Advisor Diomy Zamora, Extension, FR, Coadvisor Right-hand men: Rusty Zimmerman, Travis Haus, Kyle Welna Many undergrads that helped in one way or another: Mark Greve, Hannah Rollin, John Mueller, and many more!

30 Questions Contact information: