The Case for Investing in Trees over Land
Picture a farm with ambitions to expand, to produce more food for more people, to make more money, and to employ more people in good, regenerative agricultural work. There are myriad ways of doing so, including stacking new enterprises on the farm like raising...
Silvopasture won’t help conservation if it doesn’t help farm bottom lines
I’ve been very encouraged lately to see more and more conservation groups gain interest in silvopasture (in this case, specifically planting trees into pastures) as a powerful conservation tool. These include groups concerned with climate change and carbon...
Why We Don’t Focus on Timber
I did a podcast interview just recently where I was asked why I am a contrarian in my field. I could answer that a number of different ways, but in the field of silvopasture, Trees For Graziers stands out because we focus very little on timber. And I believe that has...
Good, fast, cheap. Pick two.
You all know the old saying. You can have something done well, done quickly, or done on the cheap. You can have two, but never three. While this may not hold up everywhere, it certainly does in the world of agroforestry, and offers a useful decision-making...
A word of caution on chestnuts
I’ve written before about why we at Trees For Graziers focus on silvopasture, particularly silvopasture for livestock feed. I believe that if we want to see agroforestry adopted at scale, meaning tens of millions of acres, it’s going to be through silvopasture with...
Precautionary Principles In Silvopasture
(Note: In the photo above, unprotected willow stakes were destroyed by white-tailed deer.) When it comes to developing silvopasture plans, there is a need for a combination of humility and critical thinking before one commits to a plan. Humility, because the list of...
The Dip
As I’ve worked on over a dozen silvopasture projects over the last few years, guiding them all the way from plan through planting and then several years of aftercare, I’ve noticed a regular pattern. It’s a phenomenon I call “the dip”. You see, tree plantings start out...
Why we focus on trees for livestock
[The above picture from the USGS shows the area in North America dedicated to crop production. It’s a lot.] At Trees For Graziers, we have determined to focus our attention first and foremost on the practice of silvopasture, and even more specifically on...
Updates to The Grazier’s Guide to Trees
Hey folks, I published the first edition of The Grazier’s Guide to Trees in January of 2022, exactly one year ago as I write this. In it I shared all that I knew at the time about the best practices for establishing silvopasture, focusing especially on planting...
A tree crop revolution for hogs and poultry
Let’s just say it how it is: pastured hog and poultry rearing have a big problem. Both are dependent on expensive inputs of annual feed crops, and are not yet living up to their full regenerative potential. A sort of grazing renaissance has taken place over the past...
What’s it worth? Comparing the cost of sugar from honey locust and molasses
I’m always trying to communicate the value of trees in a way that makes sense for graziers. Just how much is shade worth in dollars and cents? Can you put a price tag on nitrogen fixed in the soil? How about the value of honey locust pods? Honey locust pods can vary...
The best pasture in the country
It may come as a surprise to you that the most productive, best pasture in the country is not on some rich flat soil in the middle of Iowa, nor in the fertile rolling hills of Lancaster County Pennsylvania. Rather, the best pasture in all of the United States may just...
Silvopasture and hunting: a match made in heaven
I had the chance back in February of 2021 to be interviewed by Cal Hardage for the Grazing Grass podcast. Before we got into the interview proper, we were talking about leasing nearby land for grazing, and some of the opportunities Cal was pursuing. There was a nearby...
What’s it worth? Shade for your pasture
When I lay out the benefits of silvopasture to a producer, I like to highlight four key goals: Shade, shelter (windbreak), summer fodder and winter feed. There are other benefits of course, like nitrogen fixation, cycling of nutrients from deep underground, increased...Products
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Hybrid Poplar
$25.00
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Austree Hybrid Willow (10' poles)
$20.00
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SilvoPro 2-Day Workshop September 2025
$200.00