Fred Provenza is a researcher in behavioural ecology who has carried out fascinating research on the nutritional wisdom of animals, on their ability to select their diet and learn. We explore with him the practical implications of his research. He explains why a biodiverse landscape is crucial to animal health and what tools we have to favour such a foraging environment. We explore at length how to train animals either to avoid certains plants or to introduce new plants into their foraging habits. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01:42 Fred's story

08:35 Nutritional wisdom of living creatures

17:25 Pratical applications

24:08 How do trees and shrubs contribute to an animal’s diet

30:59 How can farmers act upon these insights 

38:54 Training animals to avoid certain species 

42:47 Eating tree bark : looking for tanins 

52:32 How do you promote beneficial plants? 

58:04 Resource availability and diversity 

01:01:28 Fertility and secondary compounds

01:05:38 Introducing new plants to an animal’s diet

01:09:28 Toxicity of certain plants

01:11:43 How much is training and how much is genetics? 

01:21:48 Animal’s ability to balance their diet

01:27:32 Planning the movement of the animals  

• RESOURCES

https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/nourishment/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22395309-the-art-science-of-shepherding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi_vii9XcBM&t=41s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTWYh2LpSjM&t=5640s

https://soundcloud.com/art-of-range/episode-4-fred-provenza

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

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Federico San Bonifacio is the owner and farm manager of a 30ha farm in the plains of Verona, Northern Italy. For 12 years he has been engaging in an agroecological transition where trees and shrubs play a fundamental role. Breaking the monotony of the surrounding corn and soy plots, he has planted hedges in long strips to provide the ecosystem services that support his grain production. At the same time, Federico planted 5ha of polycyclic forestry, a forestry practice that balances economic return and ecological health of the soil and ecosystem. It is always fascinating to interview farmers, as they interact with their agroforestry systems daily, and provide rich feedback to others who wish to walk similar paths.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01:50 - Federico's story 

10:20 - Farm production and sales channels 

16:25 - Direct selling 

20:25 - Hedges: objectives and description 

27:10 - Funding the hedges 

32:10 - Plastic vs biodegradable mulch & planting technique 

39:05 - Medium and long term management of the hedge 

47:10 - Interactions between the hedge and the grain crop

50:10 - Introducing polycyclic forestry: design, harvest, sale 

01:06:30 - Why polycyclic and economic considerations  

01:20:05 - Farm forestry vs alley cropping 

01:22:40 - Funding considerations and lessons learnt 

• RESOURCES

https://www.inbiowood.eu/

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

• FOLLOW US on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

• FUNDING FOR EUROPEAN PROJECTS https://explore.ecosia.org/regenerative-agriculture

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Today I talk with Kaitie Adams, she leads the Savanna Institute's Illinois Demonstration Farm program and helps build community through agroforestry education across the state and beyond. Kaitie and I explore together how they build relationships with different stakeholders to make agroforestry projects become a reality in the mid-west. We engage with themes such as cultural perceptions of agroforestry and the multiple ways the Savanna Institute is leveraging change. We also took the time to discuss their demonstration sites, their design methodology working with local farmers as well as debriefing on certain of their mistakes and lessons learnt.  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

02:09 Introduction

04:54 The Savanna Institute

10:02 Engaging with cultural perceptions 

23:30 Agroforestry as an additional layer of use of the land

46:12 Raising capital 

52:44 Design of demonstration sites 

01:11:06 Complexity of systems

01:18:14 Plans for commercialisation 

01:24:53 Mistakes and lessons learnt  

• RESOURCES

https://www.savannainstitute.org/

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

• FOLLOW US on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

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Scott and Sandy Williams got involved in farming after acquiring 500 acres of productive land in Illinois, USA. After meeting the Savannah Institute, they were inspired to transition their land towards conservation agriculture, with a keen interest in agroforestry systems. This interviews delves into the 17 acre perennial polyculture project they planted 5 years ago, and explores how they collaborate with their farmer tenant to implement extensive silvopasture, windbreaks and riparian buffers. Whilst we often see the perspective of the farm manager, it is fascinating to understand how dedicated landlords work to implement agroforestry practices.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

02:10 Story of the Williams siblings and the farm 

07:05 The perennial polyculture project 

18:45 Objectives and economic strategy of the project 

33:05 Learning how to farm 

37:05 Mechanisation and management tasks in the polyculture 

41:10 Lessons learnt in the past 6 years 

49:20 Silvopasture agroforestry experiments in collaboration with farm tenant and the Savannah Institute 

59:35 Long term vision for the land and the relationship to the tenant farmer 

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

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Eric Toensmeir is the author of The Carbon Farming Solution among other great books on agroforestry and perennial crops. The first part of the interview is focused on understanding the carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry, focusing especially on silvopasture. We then move on to discussing the challenges we are faced with to shift towards a more perennial diet. Finally we explore with him the research on alley cropping he is carrying out on the behalf of Interlace Commons : where it makes most sense and what prevents its uptake.  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01:38 Introduction

04:32 Are trees necessarily the solution to store carbon? 

10:40 Intensively managed rotational grazing & Carbon storage 

15:57 Why does silvopasture store so much carbon? 

34:29 How can we shift culture towards a perennial diet? 

40:33 Can we make perennially fed livestock affordable? 

44:03 Mechanisation of perennial systems

51:14 Research on Alley-cropping

55:56 Where is alley cropping really adapted? 

01:10:51 Motives for adopting alley cropping

01:13:03 Factors limiting uptake 

01:25:07 Factoring in climatic uncertainty  

• RESOURCES

http://www.perennialsolutions.org/

https://www.patreon.com/erictoensmeier

http://carbonfarmingsolution.com/

https://www.interlacecommons.org/

https://perennialagriculture.institute/2023/01/10/trees-with-edible-leaves-pais-latest-publication/

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

• FOLLOW US on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

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We have the pleasure of welcoming back Brett Chedzoy on the podcast. While last time we dedicated much of the conversation to transforming woods into a productive silvopasture, this time we focus on planting trees into pasture. We go into a lot of depth into the design of such plantations as well as their management implications. We conclude the interview by discussing his way of using coniferous plantations to shelter his herd from extreme winter storms and how that is saving him from building expensive infrastructure.  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

00:01:46 Introduction 

00:07:08 Why bring trees into pasture and which ones

00:21:21 Design process

00.44:20 How do we combine high quality forestry with silvopasture? 

00:51:06 What simple systems for easy adoption by livestock farmers? 

01:00:25 Implementation and management 

01:29:10 When to reintroduce animals into the plantation? 

01:35:39 Living barns  

• RESOURCES

https://silvopasture.ning.com/

https://sites.google.com/site/theangusglenfarm/home

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

• FOLLOW US on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

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Francis Bucaille is a leader in the field of agronomy. Farmer, consultant, educator, author and owner of Gaiago, he has built a reputation nuancing some of the commonly held beliefs of regenerative agricultural practices. As a soil expert he talks about the key principles of agroecology, why fungi and lignin are so important, and how trees can help farmers improve their soil. This interview contributes to our ongoing investigation as to how trees can be an agronomic tool for farmers. Their impact on soil health and fertility is a natural place to start. Enjoy!

• TABLE OF CONTENTS

02:00 - Francis' story and his vision of agriculture

20:10 - Cover crops, questioning agroecological beliefs, and practical agronomy 

32:45 - How to get started and his key agronomical principles

42:05 - The importance of fungi for soil health

46:30 - Key agronomical principles continued 

55:50 - The role of agroforestry

1:04:50 - The potential of rameal chipped wood for soil health and why we shouldn't feed 'salad' to soil organisms 

1:15:10 - Meeting soil health objectives with   

• RESOURCES

https://www.gaiago.eu/

https://www.dunod.com/sciences-techniques/revitaliser-sols-diagnostic-fertilisation-protection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNdCItE62Ds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jIu5-x7rJs

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

• FOLLOW US on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

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Dr Lindsay Whistance is a Livestock Researcher at the Organic Research Center in the UK. Through her extensive knowledge of silvopasture, she enables us to see agroforestry from the animal’s perspective. Trees can provide livestock with shelter, food, medicine and even encourage social interactions between animals. These benefits are not only important to provide livestock with a stimulating and pleasant environment but they also reduce sources of stress and increase the productivity of the herd. The discussion focuses on cows but anyone considering to integrate livestock and trees will find this conversation fascinating and full of data. 

• TABLE OF CONTENTS

05:24 : What is the ORC? 

10:30 Seeing trees from the perspective of livestock 

13:51 Effect of cold on livestock 

15:57 Effects of hot weather 

24:09 Trees for nutrition

36:57 Anti-parasitic tanins 

39:55 Fodder in times of drought

45:57 Influence of trees on the social behaviour 

54:37 What tree cover to aim for? 

57:54 Some agroforestry designs 

01:09:15 What are the main obstacles to implementing agroforestry systems? 

01:15:54 Increased biodiversity  

• RESOURCES

https://www.organicresearchcentre.com/about-us/our-team/lindsay-whistance/

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

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After many years of experimentation, Jaime Elizondo is scaling his leucaena silvopasture system in order to increase his stocking rate from 3 to 6 cattle units per hectare: doubling his profitability.

This bold statement has been made by one of the most experienced regenerative graziers we know of, and shouldn't be taken lightly. Beyond improving his grass productivity and providing fodder for his cows, Jaime is planting trees for a multitude of benefits such as biodiversity, cattle wellbeing and soil regeneration.

In this interview Jaime is talking directly to farmers and graziers with a wealth of practical information as we break down key topics in his pollarding system. He discusses how he establishes the trees, rotates the animals around them, how he pollards and how cattle digest strong chemical compounds produced by trees.

We hope you enjoy!

• TABLE OF CONTENTS

02:00 - Introduction

09:20 - Why started planting trees

15:20 - Why leucaena?

18:30 - Tree density and cattle stocking rate

20:50 - How to direct seed leucaena

30:25 - Competition between trees and grass

34:00 - Adapted animal genetics for silvopasture

38:00 - Leucaena rate of inclusion in cattle feed intake

39:40 - Pollarding vs direct browsing of leucaena

44:05 - Fencing and protecting trees

48:30 - Tree - grass interactions and tree densities

53:10 - Silvopasture and non-selective grazing rotations

• RESOURCES

https://www.rwranching.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RealWealthRanching

https://www.instagram.com/realwealthranching/?hl=en

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

• FOLLOW US on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

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Ben Raskin is Head of Horticulture and Agroforestry at the Soil Association. He is also working at Eastbrook Farm in the UK, where he is overseeing the implementation of various agroforestry systems over the last few years, mainly focused on silvopasture. Ben gives us some detailed feedback on these first years on the farm : the design of the different fields, what species they have chosen and why, as well as how they approached weed control and tree protection from livestock. Ben is passionate about wood chips and he explains how they are using them on the farm and with what results. We also discuss how to integrate agroforestry in the workflow and skillset of an existing large scale farm.

• TABLE OF CONTENTS

01:17 Introduction

06:52 Eastbrook farm

08:17 Motives for planting trees

13:17 Agroforestry systems on the farm

29:22 Suppressing weeds and wood chips

41:47 Scaling the supply of woodchips

49:07 Protecting trees

57:39 Bringing the agroforestry skillset onto farms

01:07:17 Knowledge and managing a complex system

01:12:02 Selling the produce of diversification

01:18:29 Mistakes and learnings 

• RESOURCES

https://helenbrowningsorganic.co.uk/eastbrook-farm/

https://www.soilassociation.org/farmers-growers/technicalinformation/agroforestry-handbook/

https://www.benraskin.com/general-8

• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org

• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry

• FOLLOW US on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

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