Trees for Graziers

I would like to bring people's attention Trees for Grazers (https://treesforgraziers.com/) .  

Austin Unruh's website reminded me of the potential of  honey locust trees as a fodder tree .  Russel Smith Tree Crops book introduced me to  the idea but I had no idea how much sugar was in those pods.   According to Austin some have nearly 1/3 their mass as sugar although 17% is more common.  The selected varieties that have the highest sugar content still have the thorn genes unfortunately and are hard to come by.  I ordered some 50 seeds of  (hopefully) thornless trees and am cold stratifying them this winter. You can get apparently 400lbs per mature tree of pods and 2000lbs per acre . Thats 340lbs of free sugar to fatten your cattle and sheep in just one acre! Never mind all the carbon and nitrogen those trees pump into the ground while providing shade for your animals all summer long.

I think planting honey locusts as fodder crop will make our conventional farm neighbours laugh at us at first but wait until they see how nice and fat our cattle are.  I could'nt  care less about the laughter but over time they will say hmm maybe he is on to something here and thats how we spread permaculture, carbon farming and regenerative ag to the masses of doubting thomases out there.  

Nice...

Check out willow, poplar, mulberry, Elderberry, chestnut,  Hazelnut,  Paulownia, all the Chinkapins highest most consistent nut production high in protein.... better yet here's my list Nfx is nitrogen fixing. Think about having a coppice or pollard tree next to all producing trees.


Trees Main
Chestnut American
Chestnut Hybrid
Sawtooth Oak (1200 lbs fodder )
Oak
Oak
Oak
Ash
Elm prefers dryer soil
Black Walnut 50-75-150' x 50-75' [deep tap root/ sep-oct 5 species native]
ButterNut White (black) Walnut 66-130' [Disease]
Pecan 80-100' x 50-60' / 40' apart [ph 6.0-6.5]
Beech [drop leaves early spring on budding.]
Korean Pine Tree 30-50' 164' x 25 -35' [Pinus koraiensis hóng sōng/red pine Subspecies: Glacua / Silveray / Winton] (nuts start 2 / 7 Average years - 70 nuts a cone / 10-12 years mature) (700 years / Zone 3-7) <50 year fruit?> (Disease Resistance)
Siberian Pine [ Siberan Cedar / Pinus sibirica ] 65' 120' x 16' max (850 years / 650 lbs pine nuts) (zone 2-9)
Swiss Stone Cedar [Austrian Pine / Arolla Pine /  Pinus Cembra ] 30-40' 115' x 15-25' (zone 4-7) (susceptible to disease) (1000 years)
Italian Pine
Mexican Pine
Colorado Pine
Alder 100’ x 40’ Nfx (many kinds) [Likes wet feet) [Cuttings Easy]
Willow 50’ x 50’ Nfx (many kinds) (likes wet feet) [Cuttings Easy]
Ginkgo 25–50' x  25–35' tons of fruit {safe?} 12% CP
Catalpa tree winter pods check forage



2nd Main
Chinese Chestnut
Hybrid Chestnut
Black Carpathian Walnut 30-60'x  / 25-40' Apart : 12-15 gal water a week
Walnut
Almond


Persimmon 30-70'
Hickory
Russian Olive 23x23'
Eucalyptus 2x in every paddock (pollard)
Alder 100’ x 40’ Nfx (many kinds) [Likes wet feet) [Cuttings Easy]
Willow 50’ x 50’ Nfx (many kinds) (likes wet feet) [Cuttings Easy]



2nd Main Pollard / Understory
Chinese Chestnut [Pollard]
Oak [pollard]
Ash [pollard]
Elm [pollard]  prefers dryer soil


Hickory [pollard]
Persimmon [pollard]
Paulwania [pollard] [9 species tomatose only invasive/ Empress good]
Birch [pollard] Great Fodder
Russian Olive [pollard and coppice]
Popular [coppice & pollard] (great nutrient balance/ Perfect Fodder)
Alder 100’ x 40’ Nfx (many kinds) [Likes wet feet) [Cuttings Easy]  (Perfect Fodder)





Under Story
Hazelnut (coppice/pollard 5-15 years) [Cuttings +]
Allegany Chinkapin (1st Chestnut drop)
Ozark Chinkapin (2nd Chestnut Drop)
Oak Chinkapin (last oak to drop leaves 🍃
Dwarf Oak Chinkapin [20' tall]
Chinese Chinquapin
Black Locust Nfx [Pollard] [Fast] prefers dryer soil
Honey Locust Nfx [Pollard] prefers dryer soil
Willows [pollard/ Coppice] [Fast] [shoots available summer food] [cutting +] Wet feet
Mulberry [coppice]  prefers dryer soil
Alder 100’ x 40’ Nfx (many kinds) [Likes wet feet) [Cuttings Easy] Perfect Fodder
Pear 18-25' x 12' / 25-35' Apart
Gravenstein Apple 24-35' x 30' [Sep]
Franklin Cider Apple 24-35' x 30' [Oct]


Apple 24-35' x 30'
Walnut
Persimmon 30-70'
Kiwi
Quince
Pomegranate 7-12' / 8-12' Apart [3-8 gal water]
Neem (medicinal / anti insectcide) <New category>



Schrub
Mulberry prefers dryer soil
White Russian Mulberry [Stick Root like Willow] (cuttings)
Gooseberry (shade)
Currant
Goji
Russian Pea Schrub
SeaBuckThorn Seaberry (more research)
Tagasaste
Jerusalem Artichoke (MS)
Elderberry (doesn't harden bark enough must? Be Fenced) (cuttings with one node)
Japanese Angelica Tree (Aralia Elata) similar to Devil's Walking Stick (Aralia Spinosa) and use.
Shoots early tasty
Young Celery looking
No Prickles
Calliandra
fodder
High protein
Desmodium
Fodder



Forest Floor
Allium (MS)
Chives (MS)
Garlic  (MS) [ MS- '25 years outcompeted Jerusalem Artichoke']
Iris (MS)
Mimosa pudica Nfx ShamePlant [creeping flower]
Tulips
Yellow Trumpet
Daffodils
Hepatica
Brodiaea
Trout lilies
RAmps


Comfrey
Dwarf Comfrey (shade tolerant) [spreading/ walking] (Symphytum grandiflorum) [cutting after Bloom… gives 2nd bloom)
Symphytum Officinale Russian Clumping
Comfrey band under trees (Mark Sheppard MS)
Wild Comfrey?
Comfrey Bocking 14 (cutting) [Clumping]
Wormwood (toxic to livestock but anti cancer)
JuneBerry


Vine
Grapes
Kiwis
Arctic Kiwi 🥝 (zone 3-9)
Passion Fruit
Schizandra
Bittersweet

Fence windbreak shelterbreak
Osange Orange Nfx
Willow Nfx
Black Hawthorn
Red Hawthorn?
English Hawthorn
1 foot planting in
English Hawthorn
Black Locust
SeaBuckThorn
Autumn Olive
Alder (nfx) (coppice/pollard 5-15 years) [Likes wet]
Hazelnuts (coppice/pollard 5-15 years)
Sunchoke

Fodder Blocks
Poplar
Willow
Scots Pine,
Juniper and
Holly