Silvopasture -/silvo'pasCHər/ - system

November 18, 2020

Definition: The practice of integrating trees, forages, and grazing livestock under one beneficial system.

A Closer Look: The Forest Garden Approach does not train farmers to implement a full silvopasture system with larger livestock, such as cows, because Forest Gardens usually cover a small land area that has many crops and trees growing in the space. Instead, Forest Garden farmers are encouraged to use cut-and-carry systems to keep their livestock nourished.

Although silvopasture is not a part of the Forest Garden Approach training, it is a common agroforestry technique used across the globe.

Benefits of Silvopasture: 

• Increases farm productivity
• Increases product quality
• Offers many opportunities to enhance livestock productivity
  • modifies climate
  • improves forage quality
• May reduce water stress on trees during dry periods through reduced transpiration of water by the forage plants
• Nitrogen-fixing vegetation combined with grazing increases nitrogen uptake of the associated trees.