Best Practices for Native Stand Christmas Tree Silvopastures

Research and many years of practical experience have shown that Christmas-tree management in silvopasture settings is compatible with achieving multiple values, to the benefit of industry and conservation goals.  With funding from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, Kootenay Tree Farms has refined silvopasture techniques for enhanced production of forages for both wildlife and cattle, and, tree management for rhabdocline (Rhabdocline pseudotsugae) disease control.

Forage Production

Forages are a key consideration in any silvopasture operation.  In the context of Christmas tree silvopastures in the East Kootenay region, they have direct relevance to livestock production potential, and also are a variable of consideration for land use decisions and wildlife enhancement.

The Kootenay/Boundary Land Use Plan recommends periodic entries of prescribed burning, thinning and partial-cutting to maintain open forest conditions and rangeland values.  And, ecosystem restoration projects are currently underway in several areas of the region.  To date however, no projects have compared the effects of different types of Christmas tree management systems on forage production.

One of the objectives of this operational trial was to demonstrate that a silvopasture system will benefit forage production, improve forage quality and increase the grazable area of a pasture.  Treatments (with untreated controls) were installed, representing the effect of the silvopasture management system on plant communities that are dominated by native and domestic vegetation, respectively.  The first post-treatment monitoring took place in 2013.  Preliminary results have shown that forage cover, production and species diversity increases with decreasing overstory, under a silvopasture scheme.  The long-term suitability of silvopastures to contribute as an ecosystem restoration / forage enhancement land management tool will require additional monitoring to see if these trends hold.

Economics

A production system cost-benefit analysis has been developed based on the project results with regional Christmas tree production and market information.  The production model, which Kootenay Tree Farms has evolved is based on years of practice in the East Kootenay region, is rooted in the philosophy of ‘doing it the best way for the greatest return’.  Underlying this management concept is a goal of providing agroforestry management options to producers which enhance producer and ecological sustainability, while complementing larger landscape-level management strategies. 

The review gathered economic and production data for a hypothetical Christmas tree enterprise in the East Kootenay region of BC.  It was undertaken primarily for Christmas tree producers and those potentially interested in becoming a Christmas tree producers, and was designed to provide a starting point for them to assess the potential of a Christmas tree enterprise.  The analysis provides a beginning economic assessment from which to consider one's own notions about production and economic factors, and the potentials and pitfalls of a Christmas tree enterprise in this region.

Disease Control

Christmas trees have been pruned for a long time to improve tree quality but never to control disease.  In this project component, Kootenay Tree Farms investigated different management methods to control or eliminate Rhabdocline disease in Douglas-fir Christmas trees.  The results indicate that techniques that build the soil duff layer, improve soil fertility, or reduce surface temperatures or humidity can contribute to significant reductions in disease levels in the trees.   Using pruning and tree thinning methods that improve air flow through the production site, together with practices that improve the health of the trees are key.

Cariboo Silvopasture Demonstrates Profitable Sustainability

Zirnhelt Ranch is a family owned and operated ranch located in the Beaver Valley of the Cariboo region of British Columbia.  The Zirnhelt family believes in sustainable food production and use farming methods that minimize the impact on the natural environment.  As well, the family ranch manages a woodlot and operates a timber frame building company located on the ranch.

Over the past few years, timber and livestock producers have faced depressed commodity prices and volatility due to fluctuating demand and exchange rates, pest outbreaks, and regulatory changes.  Additionally, the mountain pine beetle epidemic has created unprecedented social and economic challenges for communities in the region.  As part of a toolkit to address sustainable diversification, agroforestry systems such as silvopasture can help agricultural producers respond to these socio-economic and resource management challenges.

The Cariboo silvopasture demonstration at the Zirnhelt Ranch is an operational agroforestry approach implemented on a recently timber-harvested site and managed under high-intensity, short-duration grazing.  The long-term objectives of this demo are to determine the integrated forage and timber production, soil moisture response and the economic cost-benefits of a silvopasture approach under these conditions.

Bale grazing to help reduce unwanted brush

Establishing the silvopasture has involved brushing of unwanted shrub and tree regeneration, fencing and water developments.  And the Ranch has utilized innovative, low-cost methods to implement the silvopasture treatments with an eye towards short and long-term profitability.  For example, winter feeding of cattle over the untreated forest regeneration successfully reduced brush without damage to crop trees and created better conditions for grass and forb production.

In other areas, a silvicultural contractor spaced crop trees (a mix of fir, pine, spruce, aspen and birch) and a crew of three hand-piled the slash for later burning.  Zirnhelt Ranch bought this land after the trees had been harvested, and it was a full nine years post harvest before the silvopastures were implemented.  Ideally, for silvopastures created through logging and brushing, early introduction of cattle after logging, and in sufficient numbers to have a desired landscaping effect of trampling and stirring up the soil surface, to facilitate seeded forage establishment.

Thinning and piling to create a silvopasture

In the grazing season, cattle are used for additional brush control through their browsing.  The native shrubs that dominate the site have enough nutritional value for maintenance, but not large weight gains.  The silvopasture therefore has limits for backgrounding or finishing cattle at least in early years of development.

The Ranch has found temporary electric fencing (multi-strand electric wire and step-in posts) ideal for the silvopasture.  Major subdivision of pastures were created by running permanent cross fences from the top of the hills to the bottom, which allowed additional temporary fencing to be installed for frequent (daily to weekly) moves of livestock to follow the contours of the land.  They also found  that for any water supply it is a good idea to have a permanent electric mainline close by so that the water source can be enclosed with a charged (hot) fence to protect the water developments from excess trampling.  Locating permanent subdivision fences and travel corridors close to the water supplies is important in keeping maintenance costs down.

Gabriola Island Agroforestry Workshop, Oct 19

Join Just Another Weed Patch Farm on Saturday October 19th from 1:00 pm – 3:45 pm  on lovely Gabriola Island for an afternoon site visit and in depth presentation on the successes and challenges of their Agroforestry Demonstration Project!
   
Registration is free by emailing weedpatch@telus.net  Nutty, light refreshments will be provided. Spaces are limited! If you cannot attend please note the presentation will be video recorded and posted online at a later date for your viewing pleasure!

Cariboo Silvopasture Workshop & Tour

Friday, 27 September 2013, 10:00 – 16:00

Free to participate, but you must arrange your own transportation and lunch.

Presentations and tour start at the Zirnhelt Ranch (near Big Lake Ranch, BC)


Timber and livestock producers have faced more than a decade of volatility in commodity prices, fluctuating demand and exchange rates, pest outbreaks, and regulatory changes.  The mountain pine beetle epidemic has also created unprecedented regional social and economic challenges for forest resource dependent communities in the Interior of BC.  Silvopasture management offers practical options to sustainably address economic diversification for agricultural and timber interests that can also contribute positively to regional economic stability and environmental stewardship.

Zirnhelt Ranch, with funding from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative (AIDI), is pleased to host a day of agroforestry information and a tour of an operational silvopasture.

Agenda

10:00 - 12:00 Presentations

David Zirnhelt, Zirnhelt Ranch - welcome, overview of the Zirnhelt Ranch, holistic resource management philosophy and motivations for adopting silvopasture practices.

George Powell, BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative - Silvopasture beneficial management practices (BMPs).

Geneve Jasper, Regional Agrologist, BC Ministry of Agriculture - Selecting and managing forages for silvopasture and forestland grazing.

Lisa Zabek, Interior Agroforestry Specialist, BC Ministry of Agriculture - Overview of silvopasture pilot projects around BC.

12:00 - 13:00 Lunch Break (on your own)

13:00 - 16:00 Silvopasture Tour

An informal 'walk and talk' through Zirnhelt Ranch's silvopasture demonstration area with opportunity to share ideas and perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of developing and adopting silvopasture in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region and the potential for silvopasture management to diversify regional ranching and forestry.

2013 Kootenay Silvopasture Tour, Sept 19

Annual Kootenay Silvopasture Tour
Thursday, 19 September 2013, 08:00 – 12:00
Start from junction of Pritchard Road and Hwy 3/93, Cranbrook 
Free to participate, but you must arrange your own transportation and lunch.

Kootenay Tree Farms, with funding from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, is pleased to host its annual tour of Christmas tree - silvopasture production sites near Cranbrook in the East Kootenay region. 

This year's tour will include discussions of:

1. Livestock distribution in silvopastures;
2. Tree diseases and the relationship to temperature and bud break;
3. Pruning and spacing of trees to maximize tree production and forage;
4. Raising of the level of the tree canopy for air flow and forage production;
5. Fertilization techniques for the benefit of trees and forage;
6. Managing soil water retention for trees and forage;
7. Managing saskatoons and rough fescue for elk and other wildlife; and,
8. Forage cover in relation to trees.

Agroforestry Tour at the 85th Annual BC Cattlemen's AGM

The BC Cattlemen's Association (BCCA) will be hosting it’s annual convention in Vernon this year from May 23 -25th.  The annual education day portion of the convention is one of the highlights of this event as it offers a great opportunity for ranchers and industry representatives to gain a better understanding of ideas that may assist with their operations becoming more economically and environmentally sustainable.

With funding from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, the BCCA is pleased to offer an agroforestry tour as part of this year's education day. The theme for the education day is management for integrating grass, trees and water.  The tour will showcase the success and opportunities that the agroforestry sector provides to addressing forage development, water quality concerns, riparian management and economic diversification from a southern interior prospective.

The tour will visit agroforestry-related demonstrations and research sites in the north Okanagan and will provide education about agroforestry opportunities and practices, building awareness about agroforestry within the ranching community.

The BCCA has been the official voice of cattle ranchers throughout British Columbia since 1929.  For more than 80 years, the Association - whose membership is close to 1,200 ranchers - has represented the interests of beef cattle producers in the Province of BC.  BCCA is proud to work on behalf of approximately 72% of the provincial cattle herd to maintain and strengthen the sustainability of the BC beef industry.

To attend this tour you must register for the BCCA education day. For additional information or to register for the BCCA education day and tour please visit www.bccaagm.com/

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Funding for this work has been provided through the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative (AGF1303)

Kootenay Silvopasture Tour, Sept 20, 2012

Kootenay Silvopasture Tour
Thursday, 20 September 2012, 09:00 – 14:00
Start from junction of Pritchard Road and Hwy 3/93, Cranbrook 

Free to participate, but you must arrange your own transportation and lunch.

Kootenay Tree Farms, with funding from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, is pleased to host a tour of Christmas tree - silvopasture production sites near Cranbrook in the east Kootenay region. 

The tour will include:

1. A discussion on Christmas tree disease and control with a demonstration of tree pruning techniques;
2. A comparison of disease incidence in pruned and unpruned test plots;
3. A forage identification session and demonstration of using portable forage cages and clipping to determine annual production; and,
4. A look at how silvopasture methods can enhance forage and tree growth in these systems. 

Car pooling from the Pritchard Road / Hwy 3 junction, or other locations, to the tour sites will be available if there is sufficient demand.

Cariboo Ranchers Demonstrate Silvopasture for Sustainable Diversification

Timber and livestock producers have faced more than a decade of volatility in commodity prices, fluctuating demand and exchange rates, pest outbreaks, and regulatory changes.  Collectively, these are affecting the structure and profitability of these industries.  Moreover, the mountain pine beetle epidemic has created unprecedented regional social and economic challenges for forest resource dependent communities in the Interior of BC.  Other large-scale resource management and conservation issues, including climate change, watershed stewardship, and wildfire risk, also require innovative solutions.  Silvopasture management offers practical options to sustainably address economic diversification for agricultural and timber interests that can also contribute positively to regional economic stability and environmental stewardship.

With funding from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, Zirnhelt Ranch will demonstrate silvopasture methods to address gaps in existing information and knowledge that limit the adoption of these practices.  This demonstration will provide an operational-scale system to derive development guidelines, management recommendations and cost-benefit information.

A 10-ha silvopasture will be established at Zirnhelt Ranch on the western slopes above Opheim Lake, near the community of Big Lake Ranch, BC (roughly an hour drive east from Williams Lake).  The site was harvested of most mature timber four years ago and is currently being used for cattle grazing, providing an opportunity to implement new practices to integrate both timber and forage management.  The silvopasture treatment area will form a grazing unit within a larger managed area. It will be created by brushing and thinning natural forest regeneration into a widely spaced, open forest system with forage production zones between the trees.  The silvopasture will be used to determine the integrated forage and timber production potential, soil moisture response and the economic cost-benefits of an agroforestry approach.  Secondary objectives are to determine the effects of these systems on soil biology and water holding capacity, as drought has become more frequent in the region.

Recently harvested forest in the Beaver Valley will be developed into a silvopasture demonstration area.

Once the silvopasture is established, Zirnhelt Ranch will host a field tour in order to share integrated production principles and the cost-benefit analysis results with Agrologists, Foresters and producers interested in considering alternative land-use options.  A silvopasture workshop will also be held at the site to present and discuss agroforestry design, silvopasture systems and applications, and the potential for expanding this system design to other lands in the region, particularly those inclined to 'brush-in' after logging.

Zirnhelt Ranch is a family-owned and operated ranch located in the Beaver Valley in the Cariboo region.  David and Suzan Zirnhelt and family believe in sustainable food production and use methods that minimize the impact on the natural environment by raising and finishing their beef on pastures and local rangeland, and respecting the natural environment and wildlife.  Equally important to their operation, the family ranch is a place of local employment.  Two of David and Susan's sons operate Zirnhelt Timber Frames, a specialty timber frame building company, also located on the ranch.  The Zirnhelts are interested in integrating forestry practices with livestock grazing in order to diversify their operations and provide multiple commodities to supports both the value-added sale of their beef, as well as the timber frame enterprises.

Learn more about the Zirnhelt Ranch and related businesses at www.zirnheltranch.ca

New Research Will Determine Best Practices for Christmas Tree Production in Silvopastures

Research and many years of practical experience have shown that Christmas-tree management in silvopasture settings is compatible with achieving multiple values to the benefit of industry and conservation goals.  With funding from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative (AIDI), Kootenay Tree Farms will work on refining silvopasture techniques for enhanced production of forages for both wildlife and cattle, and, tree management for rhabdocline (Rhabdocline pseudotsugae) disease control.

Christmas tree management in silvopastures can benefit understory forage and reduce disease

The production model which Kootenay Tree Farms has evolved is based on years of practice in the East Kootenay region, and is rooted in the philosophy of ‘doing it the best way for the greatest return’.  Underlying this management concept is a goal of providing small-scale agroforestry management options to producers which enhance producer and ecological sustainability, while complementing larger landscape-level management strategies.  Managed within a silvopasture scenario, previous demonstration work and operational experience provide good indications of the potential increases in available forage, concomitant with Christmas tree management through pruning and fertilization.  Likewise, it is known that livestock in silvopastures are an important contributor to Christmas tree production by means of controlling competing vegetation.  Christmas tree silvopastures have the potential to enhance areas wildlife and livestock on public lands within the region, plus contributing to other values, while the costs can be maintained by the Christmas tree permittee.

The new work will compare forage production at two sites incorporating differing treatment combinations of fertilization, pruning and forage composition.  The project is located on a stump-culture native-stand Christmas tree production area on a BC Hydro transmission line right of way (ROW).  Kootenay Tree Farms has been operating this management area in conjunction with BC Hydro for over 20 years.  Christmas trees produced on site are predominantly Douglas fir and the whole tree farm is just under 400 ha.  The demonstration will utilize five, 2 ha blocks of the Christmas tree production area, descending in elevation and separated by other operational Christmas-tree production areas.  Each block will include the following three treatments:

1. Pruned, spaced and fertilized - with domestic forage in the understory;
2. Pruned, spaced and fertilized - with native grasses/forages in the understory;
3. Unpruned, unspaced and unfertilized – with domestic forages in the understory. 

Productivity and species composition of both domestic and native grasses will be estimated and the Christmas trees will be monitored via a rating system for the occurrence of rhabdocline disease and response to pruning and elevational position (onset of bud break via temperature relationships).  The Christmas trees will also be evaluated for variables which impact their marketability including form, colour and needle/branch density.

A production system cost-benefit analysis will be developed based on the project results and regional production and market information for a communication fact sheet.  And Kootenay Tree Farms will also work with the Christmas tree, range management and wildlife organizations by sharing information and inviting members to field workshops.

Kootenay Tree Farms, of Cranbook, has been in business for over 25 years producing native-stand Christmas trees on both a BC Hydro right-of-way (under a lease agreement) and a -permit area on Crown land.  Christmas trees have been the focus of production however, Kootenay Tree Farms also has experience diversifying production through related products such as boughs, wreathes and garlands.

For more information on silvopasture management using Christmas trees please see AIDI Extension Note 3.

Garbriola Farm Demonstrating Benefits of Agroforestry For Small-Lot Agriculture

A small farm in the south end of Gabriola Island will soon be home to the islands’ first agroforestry demonstration site, thanks to the inspiration and efforts of owners Jeff Rietkerk and Sonja Zupanec, and with support from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative.

Just Another Weed Patch Farm, a 22 acre privately-owned parcel of land on Gabriola Island, will be used to demonstrate the development of a diverse nut and timber tree grove grown in combination with livestock and annual vegetable and flower crops.  Jeff and Sonja will transform a 2 acre, fallow hay field, established over 50 years ago, into an organically managed nut tree grove.  The grove will be inter-planted with ‘alley crops’ of specialty foods and flowers between the young trees, and open to silvopasture for 6 to 8 months of the year utilizing laying hens and sheep.

“We’ve been dreaming for years about becoming stewards of a suitable piece of land to grow food and nut trees.  Now that we have the soil beneath our feet we can start growing our vision into a reality.” shared Jeff, co-owner of the farm and local arborist.

This Gabriola Island hayfield will be transformed into an agroforestry demonstration site.

“We share a 300 metre long property boundary with the Elder Cedar Nature Reserve so we have even more reasons to approach agriculture on this property with progressive and ecologically sound practices.”  The buffer of mature forested lands and responsible agricultural land use practices adjacent to this environmentally sensitive area are cornerstone to this agroforestry demonstration.

A project website is being updated regularly with information on their cultivar selection, methodology, integrated pest management approaches and project status.  Just Another Weed Patch Farm will also host a public open house and workshop to showcase the transformation and hopefully inspire other people to incorporate agroforestry techniques onto their farms.

“As they say, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now. You can’t ask for a more ecologically sound, long-term investment legacy, than nut and specialty timber trees to grow old with” concluded Jeff.

For more information on this project please visit: www.justanotherweedpatch.com

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Funding for this work has been provided through the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative (AGF1204)

Agroforestry Session at the 2012 Hort Growers Short Course

The Lower Mainland Horticulture Improvement Association (LMHIA), with funding from the British Columbia Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, is pleased to sponsor an agroforestry educational session at the 2012 Horticulture Growers Short Course.

The Horticulture Growers Short Course will be held in partnership with Pacific Agriculture Show, January 26-28, 2012 at the Tradex Exhibition Center (Abbotsford Airport) in Abbotsford, BC.

The Agroforestry Session will take place on Saturday, January 28 from 9 am to 12 pm in the Lobby Room at Tradex. It will be chaired by Dave Trotter, Agroforestry Specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture. The session agenda is as follows:

09:00 - 09:30
Agroforestry Initiative - Current Projects and Funding Opportunities
George Powell, BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative 
The Agroforestry Initiative has cost-share funding for projects which benefit industry development including demonstrations, workshops etc; Outlines of current and pending projects will be provided.

09:30 - 10:00
Ideas, Opportunities & Resources – An Agroforestry Retrospective
Harold Macy, Headquarters Creek Woodlot, Merville, BC
Harold will provide an overview of the synergies and considerations from his many years of experience managing a woodlot using a forest farming agroforestry systems approach.

10:00 – 10:30
Break
Harold Macy will highlight his new book: “The Four Storey Forest: As Grow the Trees, So too the Heart”.

10:30 – 11:00
Silvopasture and Range Considerations in BC - Pilot Initiatives for a Production Approach
Lisa Zabek, Ministry of Agriculture, Kamloops, BC
Learn about the new steps that are being developed to support silvopasture as a land use option in BC.

11:00 - 11:30
Huckleberries: Management Strategies for Agroforesters
Ali Kennedy, Keefer Ecological Services Ltd., Cranbrook, BC
Ali will look at the variety of berry species along with the biological and management considerations needed to develop an agroforestry system approach to huckleberries.

11:30 – 12:00
Exploring the Possibilities of Integrated Riparian Management in BC
Dave Trotter, Ministry of Agriculture, Abbotsford, BC
Dave will discuss management considerations for the development of an integrated riparian management systems approach to specialty crops on agricultural lands.

For registration information, or to register online, please visit www.agricultureshow.net or phone 604-556-3001 or 604-857-0318.

Registration fees for the entire Horticulture Growers Short Course (including the Agroforestry Session) are $67.00 (by January 9) or $90.00 (after January 9). Registration fees include membership to the LMHIA, attendance at any or all educational sessions, admittance to the Pacific Agriculture Show, admittance to welcome reception and free parking.

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Funding for this work has been provided through the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative (AGF1104)