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Today we are talking about livestock fodder trees and why, if you're raising livestock and want to continue eating high-quality meat and animal products in a time when livestock are being demonized as the cause of all things bad...you'd be wise to start growing and diversifying your feed inputs for your animals.
Fodder trees produce highly palatable and nutritious feed for livestock in the form of leaf vegetation, small twigs and branches, fruit and nuts. Planting livestock fodder trees enable grazing managers to dramatically increase the number of calories produced per acre by stacking yields vertically and temporally without diminishing (and often improving) the growth of grass-based forages underneath the tree canopy. Using trees for fodder – either as direct browse, cut and carry, chop and drop, or in the making of ensilage or tree hay – has a long history in Europe, and is making a resurgence in North America as the adoption of agroforestry practices like silvopasture (the integration of livestock rearing and tree production) increases due to the many advantages provided by such systems.
We'll cover the benefits of silvopasture systems and incorporating livestock fodder trees into your existing pastures, how to select appropriate fodder trees for your region and grazing operation, and a few different ways to manage your trees in concert with your animals.
Resources
____________________________________________________________________________
WHAT I DO:
Design:
On-Site Consultation
Online Site/Project Consultation
Holistic Ecosystem Design
Implementation:
Water Harvesting Earthworks
High-function, Low-Maintenance Access
Living Systems
Spring Development
Courses:
Minimum Holistic Goal
Media:
The Sovereign Homestead Podcast
YouTube
Music by Alex Grohl
By Casey Pfeifer5
66 ratings
Today we are talking about livestock fodder trees and why, if you're raising livestock and want to continue eating high-quality meat and animal products in a time when livestock are being demonized as the cause of all things bad...you'd be wise to start growing and diversifying your feed inputs for your animals.
Fodder trees produce highly palatable and nutritious feed for livestock in the form of leaf vegetation, small twigs and branches, fruit and nuts. Planting livestock fodder trees enable grazing managers to dramatically increase the number of calories produced per acre by stacking yields vertically and temporally without diminishing (and often improving) the growth of grass-based forages underneath the tree canopy. Using trees for fodder – either as direct browse, cut and carry, chop and drop, or in the making of ensilage or tree hay – has a long history in Europe, and is making a resurgence in North America as the adoption of agroforestry practices like silvopasture (the integration of livestock rearing and tree production) increases due to the many advantages provided by such systems.
We'll cover the benefits of silvopasture systems and incorporating livestock fodder trees into your existing pastures, how to select appropriate fodder trees for your region and grazing operation, and a few different ways to manage your trees in concert with your animals.
Resources
____________________________________________________________________________
WHAT I DO:
Design:
On-Site Consultation
Online Site/Project Consultation
Holistic Ecosystem Design
Implementation:
Water Harvesting Earthworks
High-function, Low-Maintenance Access
Living Systems
Spring Development
Courses:
Minimum Holistic Goal
Media:
The Sovereign Homestead Podcast
YouTube
Music by Alex Grohl

242 Listeners