Best trees for a windbreak

My developing food forest needs a windbreak, and a rather extensive one. Where I live, in the PNW, most people would use conifers for this purpose. I have a landscaper friend who is encouraging me to use Leyland Cypress. This does have the advantage that, as evergreens, they will also provide a privacy screen and their windbreaking benefits will continue into winter and early spring. On the other hand, they provide no stacking of functions and would not be promoting the kind soil ecology I mostly want. My other main idea has been to plant two or three tightly spaced rows of alder, aspen, mulberry, linden, and perhaps black locust. These could then also be pollarded on a rotating basis to provide forage, mulch, and firewood, while their normal annual leaf cycle improves the soil. The big problems there are (1) that would require a huge number of trees, and (2) keeping those trees hydrated will be an issue, as our region gets no rain for about 4 months of summer. There is no irrigation out to some of the far reaches where the windbreak is needed. That could potentially be added, but would be a notable expense.

Any great ideas out there?

Thanks!

Two other little bits of info I should share: First, I am much more concerned about the drying summer winds than I am about any cold winter winds. I'm not planning on planting much that can't handle the winter around here. Second, there is significant deer pressure on my property, which creates an additional challenge in establishing most of the deciduous trees I'm interested in. So far, I have mostly been addressing that by putting the trees in tubes. This of course is another expense.

Hi Edward,

I have the same problem here - constant drying winds that dry tomato flowers, berries on the bushes - no matter how much I water.
I'm considering native species, but they are usually slow growers - except Blue Elderberry, which I have.
Black Mulberry grows very fast here, but the roots could penetrate my drain line and irrigation pipes.
I decided to plant 3 rows of sunflowers next year, on the western side - where the hot blow is coming from. I would only consider plants that can give you something more than just the windbreak - fruits, seeds, nuts.

I would suggest if summer wind is a bigger concern for you than winter winds, then there is no reason not to use deciduous trees. I wouldn't think that establishing a conifer windbreak is any easier than a deciduous one. Creating windbreaks was one of my primary concerns when I was planting my plot on Skye. We have severe winter winds - 90mph is fairly normal. Conifers are much more likely to be pushed over and damaged then than deciduous trees that are presenting a much smaller target without their leaves. In my case the windbreaks are also mostly to protect my coppice tree regrowth, but I looked at function stacking too and have fruit and nut trees as well as just good growers. I used a mixture of trees: quick growing, shrubby and long term trees to give sucessional protection:

my discussion of windbreak design
I'm not sure what the situation is like for tree purchase in the US, I believe that forestry tree can be available through state agencies for a good price? Here bare root trees can be less than £1 each if purchased in fair quanitities. If you live in a windy area I would also suggest planting smaller trees (which are cheaper), or even seeds if cost is a real issue. The top growth is less likely then to outgrow the roots, so staking and big planting holes are not required. My understanding is that the smaller trees will quickly catch up and even outgrow trees that were taller when planted out. For more rapid growth mulching out the grass competition made a lot of difference in my case too.
I do have spruce and other conifers in my plot and to be honest I really like the shelter the spruce give - particularly upwind you get a little sheltered micro climate. An alternative to Leyland Cypress may be Western Red Cedar - it is pretty much as quick growing once established, but can be cut back hard and will regrow. This gives it a longer life expectancy here as I can trim it once it gets too big.