1. MU Center for Agroforestry

2. Ecosystem Services from Agroforestry Practices in the USA
Authors:
H.E. ‘Gene’ Garrett, Larry D. Godsey, Chung-Ho Lin, W.D ‘Dusty’ Walter, Ranjith Udawatta, and R.L. Kallenbach

3. Agroforestry Practices Five Temperate Practices

4. Silvopasture for Livestock & Natural Resource Benefits

5. DESIRED OUTCOMES Improved productivity of grazing animals.
Improved quality and diversity of forage available to grazing animals and wildlife.
Effectively interposed timber stand improvement in unmanaged stands.
Increased establishment and growth of high quality trees in pastures.
Increased wildlife benefits.

6. Forestland located on farms (pastured versus nonpastured) in the hardwood zone of the Midwestern USA in millions of hectares
Farm Woodland
State Total ha‘s Pastured Not Pastured
Michigan
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Missouri
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Iowa
Total hectares

7. Silvopasture for Livestock Benefits

8. Forage Growth Differences
Silvopasture:
Forages start growth earlier in spring, continue later in fall
Forage yields higher in heat of summer
Traditional Pasture
Silvopasture
Forage Yield
Apr
Jun
Aug
Oct
Dec
Feb

9. Results Treatment Cow BW loss over winter (kg) Calving Difficulty %
Calf Weaning Weight
Traditional
105 17
270
Integrated 93 4
295
p value
0.02
0.04
0.01
$ value
$16.89 -
$25.74

10. Putting this in terms of $$$$$
Cows in the Integrated system
Lost approximately 10% less weight over winter
Had less stress at calving
Weaned heavier calves
Overall returns in the Integrated system were about $42.63 per pair greater than in the Traditional system

11. What about the timber dimension?

12. Percent Increase in White Oak Basal Area Increment in cm2
(6-year pre-thin vs. 6-year post-thin)
Treatment Pre-thin Post-thin Percent Increase
Control
Thin With Grass and Grazed
Thin With Grass
Thin Only
Pre-
Post-

13. Windbreaks for Odor Abatement and Energy Savings

14. Windbreaks
To protect young crops from wind erosion

15. Windbreaks for Odor Abatement (Vegetative Environmental Buffers)

16. Reduction Rates of NH3 and H2S by Environmental Vegetative Buffers (second year,15 m downwind odor concentrations before and after buffers were established)

17. Windbreak Energy Savings
Based on interviews with facility operators in Iowa, Vegetative Environmental Buffers can reduce energy consumption by up to 10%
A 2000 sow operation could feasibly save $12,000 annually on utility costs
Based on the Swine production budgets for 2009 published by Ron Plain, Extension Ag Economist for the University of Missouri, utilities, insurance and miscellaneous costs are $60 per 12 cwt sow. A 10% decrease in utility costs would equate to $6 per sow. A 2000 sow operation could feasibly save $12,000 annually on utility costs. A finishing operation would not have as high a reduction in energy usage. According to one farmer in Iowa, “Larger animals are easier to keep warm in the winter and harder to keep cool in the summer. The cost savings comes from the reduction in heating costs. Smaller animals are harder to keep warm and are more prone to heat loss in the summer.”

18. Upland Buffers for Water Quality

19. Paired watershed study Results to date:
agroforestry and contour strip treatments clearly reduce runoff, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen loss from corn-soybean rotation watersheds
Paired
watershed
study

20. 2003
1999
2005
2007

21. Treatment Effects on Runoff and Nutrient Loss from
Agroforestry and CGS Watersheds
Variable Agroforestry CGS %
Runoff
Sediment TP TN
Nitrate-N

22. Rhizodegradation of herbicides and antibiotics by selected plant species

23. Atrazine Facts Do Agroforestry Buffers have a Role to Play???
35 M Kg of Atrazine (76 M lbs) applied annually in USA
900 water systems in Midwestern USA are contaminated with Atrazine
$400 M spent annually in cleaning up contaminated water supplies in USA
Do Agroforestry Buffers have a Role to Play???

24. Does introduction of atrazine degraders (e. g
Does introduction of atrazine degraders (e.g., Pseudomonas strain ADP) stimulate the rhizodegradtion of atrazine?

25. Degradation atrazine in rhizospheres with vs. without inoculation
of an atrazine degrading bacterium P. ADP

26. Eastern Gammagrass Sustains the Population of P
Eastern Gammagrass Sustains the Population of P. ADP in Rhizospheres (by monitoring the change in the copy number of atzA atrazine degradation gene)

27. Water Quality and Livestock Rhizodegradation of Antibiotics

28. Poplar Buffer
Grass Buffer

29. Enhanced Rhizodegradation of Antibiotic (sulfamethazine) by Poplar
via Stimulated Microbial Enzyme Activities
(FDA, fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic; GLA, glucosaminidase, GLU, β-glucosidase)

30. University of Missouri Agroforestry Research Farm