Skip to product information
1 of 1

SILVOPASTURE

Author: Steve Gabriel

Paperback

320 pages

8952
Membership Price:
$33.95

Members save: $6.00 (15.0%)
List Price:
Regular price $39.95 USD
Regular price Sale price $39.95 USD
Sale On Backorder

Become a Member Today!

Your membership adds up to more than just extra money in your wallet

Enjoy peace of mind knowing that you have gained greater resiliency with the expert guidance of the Mother Earth News community. You can become less reliant on the grid, combat the whims of the supply chain, and resist corporate greed. Take matters into your own hands as a member and re-invest your time, money, and energy in the things that are most important to you.

Your Benefits Include:
  • Exclusive everyday member discounts on top-quality products in the Mother Earth News Store to support your self-sufficiency goals
  • Mother Earth News magazine (print and/or digital, bimonthly during your membership term), backed by 50+ years of trusted guidance in all things sustainability and self-sufficiency
  • 350+ how-to video tutorials and webinars (only available to members, with new videos added online monthly)
  • Unrestricted access to online content: members get to view the latest articles, recipes, and project ideas before non-members

The concept of silvopasture challenges our notions of both modern agriculture and land use. For centuries, European settlers of North America have engaged in practices that separate the field from the forest and even the food from the animal. Silvopasture systems integrate trees, animals, and forages in a whole-system approach that offers several benefits to the farmer and the environment. Such a system offers the promise of ecological regeneration of the land, an economic livelihood, and even the ability to farm extensively while buffering the effects of a changing climate: increased rainfall, longer droughts, and more intense storm events.

Silvopasture, however, involves more than just allowing animals into the woodlot. It is intentional, steeped in careful observation skills, and flexible to the dynamics of such a complex ecology. It requires a farmer who understands grassland ecology, forestry, and animal husbandry. The farmer needn’t be an expert in all of these disciplines but familiar enough with them to make decisions on various time scales. A silvopasture system will inevitably look different from year to year, and careful design coupled with creativity and visioning for the future are all part of the equation.

In this book, farmer Steve Gabriel offers examples of diverse current systems that include:

  • A black locust plantation for fence posts coupled with summer grazing pastures for cattle in central New York
  • Oxen and pigs used to clear forested land in New Hampshire to create space for new market gardens and orchards
  • Turkeys are used for controlling pests and fertilization on a cider orchard and asparagus farm in New York
  • Sheep that graze the understory of hybrid chestnut and hickory trees at a nut nursery in Minnesota

All of these examples share common goals, components, and philosophies. The systems may take several years to establish. Still, the long-term benefits include healthier animals and soils, greater yields, and the capacity to sequester atmospheric carbon better than forests or grasslands alone.

For all these reasons and more, Silvopasture offers farmers an innovative and ecological alternative to conventional grazing practices.

Customer Reviews

No reviews yet
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)