Pinus radiata and sheep production in silvopastoral systems at Carngham, Victoria, Australia

Abstract

This long term experiment provides production data for evaluation of combined forestry and livestock systems. Five systems were established in Pinus radiata planted in 1981 (620 mm average annual rainfall). Sheep were introduced in 1984 and trees were pruned in several lifts. Adjusted tree stockings were (1) 60 widely spaced trees ha -1 , (2) 200 widely spaced trees ha -1 , (3) 200 trees ha -1 in five-row belts, (4) 1,090 trees ha -1 (unpruned) and 815 trees ha -1 , and (5) no trees (open pasture). Tree growth, wool production, liveweight gain and pasture production were measured. At year 25, tree diameter under bark at 1.3 m (DBHUB) in Systems 1, 2, 3 and 4 (unpruned) was 46.0, 39.2, 33.5 and 24.1 cm, while volume of bark-free 6-m butt-logs was 49, 117, 86 and 233 m 3 ha -1 . Inner rows of System 3 belts contained smaller trees than outer rows. Pruned System 4 trees had slightly greater diameter than unpruned trees. Pasture production declined with tree stocking and time, due to shading and competition. Wool production (WP ha -1 ) and liveweight gain (LWG ha -1 ) declined linearly from year 9 to 17 with increasing disparity among systems. In 1998 (year 17) WP ha -1 in Systems 1, 2 and 3 was 64, 16 and 43% of that in open pasture. Further analysis is needed to evaluate the financial costs and returns of various systems under particular rotation lengths and market prices.

Over-yielding in temperate silvopastures: a meta-analysis

“…Seven studies made direct, replicated comparisons between both open pasture productivity and forest productivity to productivity of forages or livestock and trees in silvopastures (Sharrow et al 1996;Orefice et al 2016;Ford et al 2017;Bird et al 2010;Clason 1999;Lewis et al 1983;Teklehaimanot et al 2002). The tree productivity estimates for two studies (Burner and Brauer 2003;McAdam and Hoppe 1997) came from additional publications of data collected on the same sites (Burner et al 2011;Sibbald and Daiziel 2000).…”

“…Forage productivity metrics were generally reported as total yield per unit of year (kg ha -1 ), although this may have been defined as either mean yield per cutting or per year. In one case, forage yield in the silvopasture was reported as a proportion of the yield in an open pasture (Bird et al 2010). Livestock production was reported as liveweight gains of animal per unit of area, animal, year, or day, except in a single case where livestock production was reported as fleece weight per unit of area (Anderson and Moore 1987).…”

“…Individual tree growth was assumed to remain constant between silvopastures and open pastures. Bird et al (2010) included both open pasture and forested controls. Bark-free 6-m butt-log measurements were reported at year 25.…”

On-farm factors affecting physical quality of Merino wool. 1. Nutrition, reproduction, health and management

“…While attention has been paid to effects of tree growing on microclimates, pasture production and livestock losses, especially lambs, only Bird et al (2010) provide liveweight and wool production but data on wool quality is omitted. It is clearly not possible to conduct robust economic analysis of these systems without data on FD, SS, VM and (Y-Z).…”

Desempenho de ovinos em sistema agroflorestal alternativo no ecótono Cerrado: Amazônia

“…Apesar da menor produtividade do SSP 30 em relação SP, deve-se ponderar que o SSP 30 era uma área ociosa, que passou a produzir, de forma mais sustentável, aproximadamente 50% do que se produziu no sistema convencional. Bird et al (2010) ao avaliaram a produtividade de ovinos em SSP e SP observaram que a produtividade diminuia linearmente com o aumento do número de árvores, em função do baixo crescimento da forragem, e que era necessário retirar exporadicamente os animais da áreas sob SSP. Eles observaram ganhos ha -¹ dia -¹ da ordem de 0,98, 0,63, 0,68 e 0,43g nos sistemas 0, 60, 200 e 815 árvores ha -¹, valores parecidos aos encontrados em SSP 30 deste estudo.…”