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Title: BOTANICAL COMPOSITION AND FORAGE PRODUCTION IN AN EMULATED SILVOPASTURE

Author
item BUERGLER, ALICIA - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item FIKE, JOHN - VIRGINIA TECH-BLACKSBURG
item BURGER, JAMES - VIRGINIA TECH-BLACKSBURG
item Feldhake, Charles
item MCKENNA, JAMES - VIRGINIA TECH-BLACKSBURG
item TEUTSCH, CHRIS - VIRGINIA TECH-BLACKSTONE

Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/14/2004
Publication Date: 6/20/2005
Citation: Buergler, A.L., Fike, J.H., Burger, J.A., Feldhake, C.M., Mckenna, J.A., Teutsch, C.D. 2005. Botanical composition and forage production in an emulated silvopasture. Agron J. 97:1141-1147.

Interpretive Summary: Small farms in Appalachia provide little income and would benefit from diversification of products and improvement in yield for pasture dominated production systems. We found that by planting appropriately spaced black walnut and honey locusts trees forage production increased 16% compared to unshaded sites. Additionally, these tree species provide income potential from nuts (black walnut) and high energy pods for animal feed (honey locust) as well as a long-term timber crop. This work provides useful information for farmers managing small farms and for scientists developing more efficient production systems. This work will benefit rural communities by increasing income from small farms without contributing to environmental degradation. Changing the way pastures are managed by adding appropriate trees can also provide resources for value-added enterprises and provide new employment opportunities thus strengthening rural communities.

Technical Abstract: Integrating trees into pasture may increase pasture production and improve nutritive value by altering both species composition and productivity. Our objective was to determine forage yield and botanical composition in response to tree species, tree density, and slope position in an emulated silvopasture (the site had no animals). In 1995 black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) and honey locust (Gleditisia triacanthos L.) trees were planted within plots (r=3) of predominantly tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) pasture. Trees were planted down slopes in rows to create low, medium, and high tree densities at shoulder-, mid, and toe-slopes positions. Sampling sites (n=54) under field treatment combinations were harvested May to October at 35-d intervals in 2002 and 2003. Before spring, summer, and fall harvests, plots were subsampled for botanical composition. Tree species did not affect botanical composition when compared over the two seasons. Plots under honey locust trees tended to have more fescue in a dry year (2002) and more legumes and less dead herbage in a wet year (2003). Greater percentages of warm-season grasses and fewer weeds were observed at low tree density sites in 2003. Forage mass (5280, 5130, and 4970 kg ha-1at low, medium, and high tree densities) was 16% greater under medium-density trees. Plots under black walnut yielded 13% more forage than those under honey locust (5790 vs. 5130 kg ha-1). Appropriately spaced trees have potential to positively alter botanical composition and can support greater forage production in a southern Appalachian silvopasture.