September 30, 2022
Raleigh, NC – Grasslands are the single largest agricultural land use in the U.S., comprising a highly diverse community of grasses, legumes, forbs, and woody plants. Grasslands operate as the interface between the atmosphere and the soil, rendering them not only critical for agriculture, but also providing several ecosystems services, including storage and accumulation of soil carbon.
The Forage & Grassland Program in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department at NC State University is part of a team that received a $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, for which $2.8 billion has been allocated. The project, “Climate-Smart Grasslands – the Root of Agricultural Carbon Markets,” is one of 70 projects selected by the USDA and focuses on a nine-state region that represents the core of grassland agriculture for the eastern U.S. The goal is to equip and empower land and livestock managers to enter the carbon economy while enhancing the system’s resiliency and optimizing profitability.
Dr. Miguel S. Castillo, Associate Professor and lead PI at NC State, notes that “grazing is not just letting the animals use the pastureland resource. Land and livestock managers have several tools and options available to strategically manage these resources and hence can have profound effects on the delivery of ecosystem services (e.g., accumulation and storage of soil carbon, emission of greenhouse gasses), and profitability of the farm. Decisions in grazing systems should be objective-driven”. The team is a partnership of 28 entities across the eastern U.S. that collaborates with 245 working farms. These farm partners will play a critical role in the success of the project by testing innovative grassland management strategies, providing an opportunity to validate carbon and greenhouse gas benefits, and serving as a platform for outreach programs. The team will also evaluate trade-offs for producers, the beef sector, and national agricultural policy with respect to climate-smart farming, biodiversity conservation, and a productive beef sector. This information will be used to empower farmers, downstream elements of the beef value chain, and allied industries to engage in carbon exchanges and foster market opportunities within the retail sector.
Contact Miguel S. Castillo, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Forage & Grassland Program
Crop & Soil Sciences Department, North Carolina State University to learn more about NC State’s role in this project: mscastil@ncsu.edu | www.forages.ncsu.edu
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July 25 @ 9:00am – 4:45pm | $25
Silvopasture, the intentional practice of integrating forages, animals and trees, is one type of agroforestry with potential to improve ecosystem responses and provide multiple sources of farm income.
Are you interested in successfully transitioning or starting a silvopasture system? Join us for a workshop, field day, and on-farm instruction including the latest silvopasture research from North Carolina and Virginia.
Plus, learn about a new NC Choices USDA project aimed at connecting beginning livestock producers with silvopasture and other land opportunities across the state.
Registration, Agenda, and Event Details HERE
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Project Seeks to Aid Beginning Farmers Raising Meat |The Sylva Herald
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Helping new farmers raise meat| Southeast FarmPress | February 5, 2019
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Hurricane Florence is one of the worst storms to hit North Carolina, ever. CEFS’ Field Research, Education, and Outreach Facility at Cherry Research Farm is located in Goldsboro, one of the hardest-hit areas of the state. NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Research Station Manager Andy Meier and his crew have gone above and beyond — as they always do in extreme situations — to protect and care for livestock on the farm and minimize damage to crops and infrastructure. They even rescued a stranded motorist whose life was in danger. We are indebted to them for their service, hard work and bravery. Below please find updates from Andy Meier.
9/17/18:
Good evening,
Rainfall: 22.68 inches
Current river level: 26.02 feet
Today got off to a raucous start around 2 am with a lively thunderstorm and a series of severe weather alerts including tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flooding alert screaming through the cell phone. In the end, nearly 5.25 inches of rain fell from 2 – 6 am. Many staff struggled getting to the station and we delayed start time until 10 am to let the flash flood water recede and roads open back up.
Staff went to the livestock units via boat today and it looks like that may be the norm for the next couple of days. We are thankful the crest is upon us soon and that it appears it will be around 3 ft less than in Matthew.
Today will feature some photos from the Small Farm Unit. Matt Ball was able to get in today, assess damage and take care of plants in the greenhouse. We cut the plastic from 5 of the 6 hi-tunnels to prevent permanent damage to the structures from the wind this past weekend. We did leave the plastic on the heated greenhouse in order to prevent damage to the heaters and other electronics in that house. It fared well. The photos below show water flooding the lower grounds of the Small Farm from the Little River and other pictures from around the unit.
Livestock were fine again today. Not much to report. We are very thankful this storm came before calving season at the dairy and beef. Pigs are doing just fine. I choose to use this photo since we’ve not taken many after the storm. This picture was taken the Friday morning of the storm. While it may seem random, it is always striking to me how resilient animals and smart animals are; if you look closely,, the vast majority of the cows are facing to the West. The wind was blowing driving rain out of the East when this was taken. More striking was how many of those cows were chewing their cuds and just hanging out, seemingly oblivious to the whole storm. Cows are so cool…….
Parting thought for the night: We witnessed 2 separate events today that clearly demonstrate how very dangerous moving flood water can be. This photo from afar is of a car at the entrance of the dairy. Wisely, they decided not to traverse the water in front of them. Sadly, Wayne County had to send First Responders though the water to go rescue them. What isn’t evident is how much water they had to drive through to get to the dairy in the first place. So risky for themselves and those that had to go get them. While it is difficult to see the car at the curve in the road, it is very easy to see how much water is in between me and the curve as well as how quickly it is moving. So senseless.
When we got the first pair of staff to the dairy, a motorist drove by a barrier, law enforcement and our boat to head through the water. The photo below shows how far that individual floated into our fields. Had it not been for the bravery of our two boat captains who went to rescue that motorist from the car, another statistic was a plausible outcome.
The car is just above the fire hydrant in the center of the picture, about 150 yards from the road it was on.
I’m proud of this entire team; they takes risks to save the life of an individual making poor choices and they take risks to care for animals that depend on us. They take risks to come to work when they could have chosen to stay at home and not try to come in. I just can’t say enough.
Finally, if you encounter water across the road; Turn around, Don’t drown. One person in Wayne County NC is extremely lucky the Cherry Farm Navy was there to take care of them. Thank you Jordan and Matt, for doing the right thing.
I think I’ll sleep well tonight………
]]>by Alan Franzluebbers, USDA Professor of Soil and Crop Sciences at NC State University and Coordinator of CEFS’ Farming Systems Research Unit
Some landscapes are difficult to manage with contemporary agricultural techniques that are designed for uniformity of production. Researchers at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems’ Field Research and Outreach Facility at Cherry Farm in Goldsboro, NC discovered this when they tried to grow corn and soybean in rotation on a floodplain site that had a wide diversity of soil texture and slight variations in elevation. During the first several years, yields were either drought-affected on the sandy hummocks and acceptable elsewhere, or decimated in low-lying areas due to flood waters and excessive moisture that rotted crop roots.
Fortunately, with the vision of Dr. Paul Mueller, retired Professor of Crop Science at NC State University and one of CEFS’ founders, the site was also planted with rows of trees to create a mixture of agriculture and forestry. Once trees became large enough to be pruned of their lower branches and allow people and animals to move under them, investigators transitioned the site from alley cropping to silvopasture – the intentional mixture of trees and pasture.
Why would good agricultural land be planted to trees and then to pasture? The answers come from recognizing that not all agricultural landscapes are able to withstand the weather extremes in North Carolina equally well. A portion of agricultural lands that are considered marginal for production may be ideally suited for silvopasture. Floodplain soils have deposits of coarse sand. These soils don’t hold water very well if tilled, resulting in loss of organic matter; additionally, they don’t hold water long enough to withstand frequent occurrences of 10+ days without precipitation in the summer. The result is drought and crop loss.
Other areas of the floodplain have soils with fine-texture (i.e. gummy clay) that have poor infiltration and remain saturated for long periods of time – again, a consequence of tillage. This accelerates soil organic matter decomposition and disturbs the continuity of pores for drainage to occur. Trees are able to withstand both drought and water-logging much better than annual crops due to their deep and expansive root system once established. It also helps that the large demand for water by trees creates an effective wick to dry soils out when wet. The perennial and deeper rooting of trees allows them to search out water deeper in the soil profile when necessary. In a similar manner, pasture grasses develop a perennial root system, which penetrates deep into the soil to extract water and overcome periods of drought. They can also withstand occasional water saturation by growing rapidly and transpiring water back into the atmosphere.
NCDA Cherry Research Farm staff Andy Meier (Research Stations Division Eastern Region Team Leader), Mark Clements, and Mildred Betancourth (L-R) .
The alley-cropping experiment that Dr. Mueller initiated in 2007 is now a fully functional silvopasture experiment due to the dedicated support and effort of the Cherry Research Farm staff. Research will allow us to answer questions about the types of management that will be most beneficial to producers, and how management of silvopastures affects basic agronomic characteristics of plant mixtures and environmental quality issues important to agricultural stakeholders and the public.
The experiment at CEFS’ Field Research site now has a combination of several native species including loblolly pine, longleaf pine, and cherrybark oak trees. Native warm-season grasses include big bluestem, eastern gamagrass, indiangrass, and switchgrass. The only non-native introduction at this time is beef cattle – Black Angus heifers that graze the forage during the summer in the protection of the shade offered by the trees.
Our core team of principal investigators and students will be able to study (a) soil biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other nutrients, (b) biophysical attributes of temperature, water, and light, (c) nutritional analyses and botanical dynamics of native warm-season grasses, (d) animal production, behavior, and stress responses, and (e) ecological interactions of timber, forage, and livestock components with soil and climatic factors.
Black Angus heifers enjoying the shade offered by the trees.
Many questions remain for us to answer: How does the system’s configuration affect production and ecological responses? How does grazing management impact forage and timber components and their interactions? How do management and environmental conditions affect productivity? How best to achieve sustainability?
The practice of agroforestry could and should become a more important ingredient in conservation agricultural systems, particularly in North America where its use is still minimal. Without soil disturbance under trees, sequestration of soil organic carbon and nitrogen is possible, water infiltration is enhanced, and soil erosion can be minimized. By creating semi-natural habitat under strips or randomly located trees, biodiversity of agricultural regions can increase. The widespread and deep roots of trees can extract nutrients to avoid leaching losses. Ultimately, trees can be harvested for pulpwood, timber, or biofuel feedstock.
Soil physical and chemical quality under trees in an agroforestry system can be greatly improved, leading to localized benefits at the trees’ edge, and also to regional benefits due to hydrologic alterations and creation of biodiversity habitats and corridors. Enabling an understory of forage can lead to increased numbers of insects and various arthropods, as well as greater bird density and diversity than neighboring monoculture cropland fields. Nutrients can be effectively scavenged deep in the soil profile.
Silvopasture design and management are really only beginning in North America. The potential appears very high for achieving positive environmental results to stabilize agricultural landscapes and build resiliency to climate change. One key to successful implementation on a larger scale will be to demonstrate the potential economic profitability of this management system compared with current agricultural systems, while promoting the potentially larger environmental benefits.
For more information about CEFS’ Agroforestry experiment, please visit the Agroforestry page.
]]>This blog post is from The National Association of Conservation Districts and can be found in its original form here.
Dr. Alan Franzluebbers didn’t go looking for silvopasture; the practice was waiting for him. The research ecologist relocated four years ago to a position with North Carolina State University’s Department of Soil Science. Having researched pasture systems for more than a decade in Georgia, Franzluebbers inherited a silvopasture study already underway at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro.
Silvopasture is one of five recognized agroforestry practices. It combines trees with forage and livestock production. The trees are managed for high-value sawlogs and, at the same time, provide shade and shelter for livestock and forage, reducing stress and sometimes increasing forage production.
The 17-acre demonstration site in Goldsboro incorporates longleaf pine, loblolly pine, and cherrybark oak across a mixture of soil types. Trees are planted in three-row sets, with 6-foot by 6-foot diamond spacing. Trees were planted on the site in 2007, but livestock grazing was incorporated just this year.
Silvospasture relies on many familiar strategies. “Rotational grazing is one key to success, even more so than traditional pasture operations. The danger is animals exposing trees by rubbing and denuding the area below the trees,” he said.
Franzluebbers presented his study’s initial findings to the NACD Forestry Resource Policy Group (RPG) in Cherokee, North Carolina, in early August. According to a 2014 NACD forestry survey, 21 percent of responding districts in the Southeast Region – more than double in any other region – indicated they were assisting landowners with silvopasture. According to Franzluebbers, that’s likely because in many areas of the Southeast, including the coastal plains, land is too wet or too dry for optimal agricultural operations and landowners are more open to exploring ways to maximize land use.
There is opportunity for conservation districts to expand landowner engagement in silvopasture – not only in the Southeast, but in other regions – based on shifting land use and landowner interests.
“Silvopasture management is not for everyone,” says Rich Straight, technology transfer leader for the National Agroforestry Center. “It does require practical knowledge about a variety of management activities on pine trees, rotational grazing, livestock condition, and forage quality.” However, for beginning farmers and those trying to make a living on smaller land holdings, silvopastures can generate more income than more common management strategies.
For example, “Pine plantations can provide a good return on investment,” he continued. “The downside is one of cash flow because income is realized only every 10 to 15 years. On the other hand, commodity crops like corn and soybeans have a small profit margin, which requires quite a few acres to generate enough income to support a family. By combining an annual source of forage or livestock income with the longer term timber income, producers can generate more income per acre.”
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems now hosts tours for local landowners. “Many of those who attend walk away impressed (and) some… consider starting their own silvopasture operation on a small scale,” says Franzluebbers.
Still, same as Straight, Franzluebbers admits it’s a select audience. “It’s not for everyone,” he says, “but it is an opportunity for producers interested in conservation. Silvopasture, like other agroforestry practices, allows an opportunity to work the land and meet conservation goals. It helps us achieve an enriched landscape.”
For more information on this operation, email Dr. Alan Franzluebbers at alan.franzluebbers@ars.usda.gov.
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The Farm crew has been busy during the past month! They have been working with university faculty and other volunteers to prune the Loblollys and some Longleaf pines in the agroforestry plots. The winter season always includes general cleanup and maintenance of our equipment, buildings and facility, and they have been doing a great job.
Agroforestry plots before and after pruning.
The month of January provided about 2.33 inches of rain, making it sloppy to work outside. On these wet days, the Farm crew works on getting our tillage and planting equipment prepared for a fast-approaching Spring season. Brent has been very busy the past few months maintaining our tree lines and ditches. Marvin, Matt and Todd can’t wait for the weather to warm so they can get to the fields. Ivy has been hard at work getting seed, fertility and other supplies purchased for the upcoming season as well as developing a crop plan. Everett has spent the last month re-mapping all of our field boundaries on the station. These maps will provide data that allow us to go back to the exact same boundaries within an inch of where they were originally mapped, year after year. This level of accuracy is critical for high-quality research.
The Dairy Unit has completed calving. Since October 2012, 125 Moms have had babies — 65 males and 60 females. The dairy crew is now focusing on getting these animals bred back for next Fall. The dairy crew is also mending fences and constructing new ones for the upcoming grazing season. Both the cows and the staff are looking forward to fresh grass. Apprentice Rachael continues to be heavily involved with the calves and the breeding season. Her assistance is much appreciated! Johnnie and Windy are busy keeping it up with it all to make sure everything gets done. Jeffrey, Todd, Billy, Bryan, Larry, Logan and Julie work to see to it that all of the daily chores are done. This includes milking the cows twice a day, feeding the calves, breeding the cows and making sure all of the youngstock are appropriately cared for. We certainly appreciate their efforts!
Momma goat with her kids.