This subject is one of the reasons I researched pigs in the first place. I have all woods and wanted to turn leaf litter into pasture. All while saving the most trees possible. I have 85 acres of raw wooded land and now contemplating select cutting. This will provide a free survey, access road I don't have to pay for, and open the canopy for the grasses to grow. And hopefully pay for my land and have enough left over to build a humble cabin.
Grazing thinned or cleared forest often is important if you want to convert it into pasture. The intensive rotational grazing approach seems to work. You want the stuff that's growing grazed down quite quickly, and then move the animals somewhere else. That way the grasses and other species adapted to grazing will tend to outcompete the brush and weeds. When the pasture is more established you might want to take a different approach if you want to preserve the forbs and stuff that come up, which is nice.
Along with the book "Tree Crops" by J. Russell Smith that was brought up by @heyerstandards, another person to consider learning from is Mark Shepard from Wisconsin, and author of "Restoration Agriculture." Along with the silvopasutre system is the savannah systems and alley cropping systems. These systems, with moving shade across the landscape, actually has been shown to create more biomass production in the pasture. This is because photosynthesis in the grasses can come to a stop when the temperatures get too high. By having dappled shade move across the grasses beneath, this keeps them in optimal temperatures and photosynthesizing more hours per day (i.e., growing!)
Thank you for this video. Very informative :D We just bought a wooded lot and were planning to do this. Just found out recently that there was a name for it haha.
Silvopasture (Latin, silva forest) is the practice of combining forestry and grazing of domesticated animals in a mutually beneficial way. Advantages of a properly managed silvopasture operation are enhanced soil protection and increased long-term income due to the simultaneous production of trees and grazing animals.
The book was originally written in the '30's, prior to the fertilizer Green Revolution. It is available online as a pdf. The author surveys many locales around the world where tree crops have supported villages and cultures without relying on annual crops. He surveys America's potential to do the same, suggesting fruit & nut varieties for various regions. (Of particular interest is having a diverse fruit and nut orchard feed the hogs for you through most of the year, depending on the latitude and tree varieties. )
Your comment about excellent tree genetics reminded me of a theme in the "Tree Crops" book that the author emphasizes the need to search the hillsides by conversation to find top trees and replicate those genetics. Treat the forests as cultured crops, not just woods. A brief concerted effort (in the '30s) to search and duplicate top genetics across the country would have permanent laudable results. Author calculated edible protein and carbohydrate production would exceed corn/bean/hay/cattle production *at the time.* Although field crop genetics and techniques have obviously improved, a permanent stand of trees cannot be topped in profit per acre/per effort.
If you really want to build just where the oak is, can you cut a bit out of the uphill side and make an earth bermed building? Or does that not work with the quantity of rainfall and runoff you get there?
