A tour of silvopasturing operations in South Central New York on September 12^th and 13^th, 2019 

This June marks the tenth anniversary of the first workshop on silvopasturing in New York.  The initial workshop was in response to sustained interest generated by Cornell Cooperative Extension’s “Goats in the Woods” project funded by NE SARE in the early 2000’s (Smallidge et al. 2004).  Since then, thousands have participated in over one hundred educational events around the Northeast on silvopasturing, including major conferences in 2011 and 2014 in New York. 

In an effort to highlight examples of successful silvopasturing implementation on the ground, Cornell University Cooperative Extension and other partners will host a two-day tour of several farms using silvopasturing to better utilize their farm and labor resources while addressing management and environmental challenges. 

All are welcome to join this low-cost tour - but farmers, foresters and conservation professionals are especially encouraged to attend.  Some examples of what participants will see and discuss include:

• Silvopastures in various stages of establishment and maturity, on a variety of sites and scales
• Grazing management adaptations for silvopasture settings
• Host farmers sharing their learning curves on what has worked well with their silvopasture projects… and what hasn’t.
• Key insights and observations from silvopasture experts

In additional to observing and learning from practical applications of silvopasturing in eastern hardwood forest settings, this tour will provide an invaluable opportunity to meet and network with other silvopasture practitioners in silvopasture settings.  Three of the farms that will be toured are below, with more to be added.

Angus Glen Farms in Watkins Glen, NY (Figure 1).  A 500-acre grazing operation that extensively uses silvopasturing and “living barns”.

Figure 1 Angus Glen Farms

Fieldstone Acres in Campbell, NY (Figure 2).  A nearly 1,000-acre beef farm that is now in its second year of establishing forages on a 150-acre site thinned for silvopasturing.

Figure 2 Fieldstone Acres

Burns Farm in Lindley, NY (Figure 3).  A 120-acre sheep and beef farm that is in the process of adding 70 acres of silvopasture from a mature mixed hardwood/hemlock woods.  The Burns Family have been full-time graziers for over twenty years and utilize a number of progressive grazing practices that include ultra-high density grazing.

Figure 3 Burns Farm

Full details for the tour will be available by May 20^th at the: www.silvopasture.ning.com forum.  For additional information, please contact Brett Chedzoy, Regional Extension Forester with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County, at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone: 607-742-3657.

References

Smallidge, PJ, Brown D, Stanton, T (2004) Enhancing meat goat production through controlled woodland browsing. USDA Northeast SARE Project LNE01-148, May 2001 – December 2003. Cornell University. Available at https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/lne01-148/

Keywords: silvopasturing; field tour; eastern hardwoods silvopastures