Silvopasture: A Global and Historical Perspective
Take a tour of silvopasture around the planet. This agricultural practice has been in use for centuries from the tropics to temperate climates. Learn about research on the utility of silvopastoral systems for agricultural production and their implication for contributing to an economically and environmentally resilient agriculture.
Read MoreSilvopasture in the Midwest
This webinar captures the history and use of silvopasture as a practice throughout the Midwest. You’ll find a refresher on silvopasture as a practice and its concepts, highlights of research from silvopastoral systems in the region, and a tour of farms and farm systems that utilize the practice.
Read MoreSilvopasture in Minnesota
This webinar is focused on producer experiences using silvopasture in their operations. From beef to goats and from Northern to Southern Minnesota you will tour a diversity of operations, climates, and landscapes. This webinar is an on-the-ground tour of working farms.
Read MoreAdaptive Grazing & Silvopasture
Silvopastures are complex agroecosystems with the potential to provide an array of sustainable products and services. From healthy pasture-based foods and forest products to clean water and carbon sequestration, highly skilled grazing management is critical to the success and optimization of these systems. This webinar will present an overview of Adaptive Grazing Management and a…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 48: Grazing Cattle to Restore Oak Savanna
Using livestock to restore landscapes may seem like a contradiction, but oak savannas thrive with disturbance. Grazier Doug Voss and PhD candidate Austin Yantes are involved in a project at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, studying the results of carefully managed cattle grazing, tree thinning, and burning in striving to meet Sherburne’s ecological goals. The Sherburne…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 27: Home on the Tree-Range
Tony Wells and a few partners are years into developing a regenerative and resilient poultry production system that provides opportunities for small farm profitability, which they’ve implemented on a 40-acre farm. The model attempts to replicate a forest habitat for poultry, incorporating perennials like hazelnuts and elderberries into a silvopasture system. Not only do the…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 24: Restoring Oak Savanna
Tyler and Stephen pick up their conversation on oak savanna from our last episode: How do we restore oak savanna? What does it take? Where have we been and what’s been missed in prior restoration attempts? According to Stephen, “restoration is restoring the processes that maintain the desirable vegetation.” He dives into a variety of…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 23: Origins of Oak Savanna
Stephen Thomforde, farmer, Stantec Senior Ecologist, and expert in fields of oak savanna research and restoration takes us on a deep dive into oak savannas. Throughout the episode, he describes the patterns of this ecosystem’s growth across geographical space and time, all the way back to when mammoths and mastodons walked Minnesota. In short, a…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 10: Implementing Silvopasture
Jared Luhman and Tyler Carlson return to further discuss Silvopasture: “the intentional integration of trees, forage, and livestock into one intensively managed system.” Formerly a trope to “keep livestock out of the woods,” now farmers have the tools to properly manage their impact. By intensively managing trees to optimize the growing environment for the forage…
Read MoreSilvopasture Case Studies
SFA recently published a compendium of five case studies featuring farmers who practice silvopasture and agroforestry. Researched and written by Jared Luhman, SFA’s Soil Health Lead, these case studies feature farmers throughout Minnesota who have been using silvopasture practices for three or more years and whose stories offer tangible examples, support, and encouragement to others.…
Read More