Cows in the Woods: What it Takes to Create a Silvopasture
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 25. 07. 2024
- How do you transform land overgrown with invasive shrubs and weeds into a shade-dappled pasture perfect for managed grazing? Find out how Butler Grassfed Beef in Spring Green, Wis., created a silvopasture for its cows in a move that benefits farmers, water quality, our climate and our animals.
đł Silvopasture is the practice of integrating trees & forage plants into livestock pastures. Keeping the farmland covered with perennial plants and trees holds carbon in the soil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It also minimizes soil erosion and nutrient runoff, keeping nearby waterways healthier.đ§ (Photos courtesy: Butler Grassfed Beef)
đŁ WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW đŁ
âĄïž Wisconsinâs agricultural sector saw a 21% increase in climate emissions between 2005-2018.
âĄïž Between 1995-2020, Wisconsin farmers received $10.1 BILLION in subsidies.
âĄïž Only 11% of subsidies went to support conservation programs.
âĄïž Tens of thousands of drinking water wells in rural Wisconsin are polluted with unsafe levels of nitrates, 90% from agricultural sources.
â RESOURCES FOR YOU â
Learn about climate-smart agriculture:
www.cleanwisconsin.org/our-wo...
What we need in the next Farm Bill:
www.cleanwisconsin.org/2023-f...
Taste the Change: Kernza, the World's First Perennial Grain Crop
www.cleanwisconsin.org/taste-...
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Video Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:11 Benefits of Silvopasture
2:20 Steps to Transform the Land
3:38 Challenges with Water
4:00 Importance of Stabilizing the Banks
5:07 Importance of Sampling the Water
5:36 The Key to a Good Silvopsture
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Video Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:11 Benefits of Silvopasture
2:20 Steps to Transform the Land
3:38 Challenges with Water
4:00 Importance of Stabilizing the Banks
5:07 Importance of Sampling the Water
5:36 The Key to a Good Silvopsture
Raised on a farm and farmed for 15 years, then worked and traveled the world till retirement. Bought a small farm with overgrown pasture, cut, cussed, and bled to clear the brush. Planted grasses and clover then mowed to keep brush down. Now we have a beautiful farm that we are so proud of. Grandkids get to learn about the farm, respect life, and learn what it is to have a dream and make it happen.
Great video, all of it is applicable. If you can't or do not want to spend money on heavy equipment, rental or purchase, you can simply remove the trees and let the cows graze around the stumps and even the brush. Within a few years the roots on the stumps will decompose and the stumps will work their way out of the ground. I did that on my silvopasture and was able to drive around and hand-pick the stumps and throw them into the tractor bucket. Also, all the brush had been consumed and/or trampled into the soil. By the way, stacked stumps make excellent perimeter hedgerows if stacked tall enough - nothing wants to push through that tangle of roots and stumps. My cows are Scottish highlands which browse almost as good as goats and can reach higher. Good luck and, as always, take time to enjoy your land and animals!
So many people say you have to burn the old stumps. It didn't make sense to me to burn anything that can decompose and make soil. Thank you for giving me the idea to make hedgerows with them.
Consider installing a nest box for Rodent eating Owls. Barn, Screech and Northern Saw-Whet Owls are cavity nesters. Rodents host ticks and attract pit vipers. In Wisconsin Northern Saw-Whet Owls can check Forest mice populations. Screech Owls are a good choice for forestry and Silvopasture areas south of Wisconsin. Barn owls are for open areas inhabited with meadow voles, rats and rabbits. Given modern timber management, there are fewer cavities for Owls. Additionally, modern metal agricultural buildings do not provide the same nesting potential as old open wood barns which are being taken down for the lumber and to decrease hazard.
Great information that makes perfect sense! Thanks for sharing with us and I look forward to seeing more in future videos.
Prayers of STRENGTH for your future. Its †breaking I known! They cheated whilst I worked on the road sandblasting and painting Cargill plants.
SD born and raised....kinda bored too, SO if'in you need a 63 ranch raised Marine, let me know k? No money needed just housing đđȘđȘđȘ
God'll guide you đ
Great content, no need for the ethereal music on a loop, very distracting
After you planted the oats, then they died, and you seeded again next spring what did you use as seed for the pasture?
Hi @uconnstan, we reached out to David with your query and this is what he said --
We used a mix of two seed mixes from Prairie Creek Seed in Iowa. âRenovatorâ and Diversifierâ. Photos of the product descriptions are available on their website. We frost seeded them into the winter killed oats using 4 parts renovator to one part diversifier. I think the wide variety of grasses and legumes gives the pasture a good chance to adapt to various conditions.
Hope this helps!
@@CleanWisconsinthanks for the video! It was awesome with fantastic content!Iâm going from crop land to making pasture along with some silvopasture too. I was wondering what kind of seed he used so Iâm going to look it up now.
What was the book called? I canât find it. Grass fed beef?
Hi @calbrown2610 - We reached out to David regarding your query and he clarified that the name of the book is 'Grass-Fed Cattle: How to Produce and Market Natural Beef' by Julius Ruechel - Hope this helps!
Itâs deer and bison. The bison eat the grass. The deer eat the trees. We eat the bison and deer.
Step 1. Procure a small loan of a million dollars.