Silvopasture: Planting for Shelter & Forage

Silvopasture is an ancient practice that integrates trees and pasture into a single system for raising livestock. Research suggests silvopasture far outpaces any grassland technique for counteracting the methane emissions of livestock and sequestering carbon. There are also animal welfare benefits, providing shelter and shade. But how do you get started? What types of trees work best and how long will it take to establish? This is video footage filmed at the Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) 2019 as part of the session on silvopasture which included hearing from two farmers in different parts of the UK with their own climate challenges and a livestock researcher who looked at the nutritional and behavioural benefits of access to trees. Livestock farmer and Pasture-Fed Livestock Association (PFLA) member Chris Jones describes what he has implemented on his farm in Cornwall and why.