This ancient farming practice could get a boost from the US farm bill
A silvopasture system can do more than simply save farmers money; it can help them diversify what they grow. USDA NRCS Texas via Flickr This article was originally featured on Nexus Media and Ambrook Research.. On a clear morning in April, after milking his seven cows, Tim Sauder looked over the pasture where he had just turned the animals out to graze. Like many dairy farms, Sauder’s fields swayed with a variety of greenery: chicory, alfalfa and clover. But they were also full of something typically missing on an agricultural landscape — trees. Thousands of them. Between 2019 and 2021, Sauder planted 3,500 trees at Fiddle Creek Dairy, a 55-acre family farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he and his wife raise cows to produce yogurt, cheese and beef. Today, young willow, hickory, poplar,...