Silvopasture at North Fork Farms

What is Silvopasture?

We raise our animals from birth to finish in a stewarded oak savannah system. When intentionally stewarded, oak savannah is one type of slivopasture system where livestock, trees and forages are all cultivated in a way that supports thriving for all three.

Our pastures have naturally-established white oak, burr oak and swamp white oak, as well as black walnut, crabapple, american plum and others. In 2024 we received a funding from Sustainable Agriculture Education and Research (SARE) and the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), both programs of the USDA to improve our silvopasture system by adding 600 hardy fruit and nut trees! These trees not only improve shade for livestock, soil stability, water quality and cool-season forage availability, but when mature we hope they can also provide leaf fodder, as well as fruit and nut drop, for our livestock during challenging climate-impacted seasons.

New species to our silvopasture system include:

  • Red mulberry

  • Chestnut

  • Northern Pecan

  • Hickory

  • Hazelnut

  • Apple

  • Pear

  • Serviceberry

  • Persimmon

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Support from SARE:

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the North Central Region SARE program under project number FNC24-1404. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

 Learn More Here —

Take a video tour of our SARE grant planting here

(Video by Corey Peters Media Production)