Woodland Management and Agroforestry Potential Among Dairy Farmers in Lewis County, New York

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the current level of woodland management by dairy farmers in Lewis County, New York, and determine types of woodland management or agroforestry strategies that could benefit them. Basic procedures followed were those of Diagnosis and Design Methodology as defined by the International Council for Research in Agroforestry, supplemented by Farming Systems Research strategies. Hypotheses concerning woodland management were developed and tested using a mail questionnaire, and on-farm and telephone interviews.It was found that respondents could be divided into six categories: dairy farmers with a managed sugarbush, dairy farmers with woods, dairy farmers with no woods, non-dairy farmers with a managed sugarbush, non-dairy farmers with woods, and non-dairy farmers with no woods. Most dairy farmers who had woods reported that they conducted at least one management activity (e.g., management plan, plant trees, harvest trees, etc.). Active sugarbush managers were found to be the most intensive managers of woodlands. The most important reasons for this were their annual involvement with the woods during the late winter sugar season and the presence of access roads. Dairy farmers not having a sugarbush, but reporting efforts to improve access roads, had a much higher level of woodland management than those who did not. Also, there was a strong indication that farmers of land with poor soils for crops had higher woodland management levels than those with good soils.Agroforestry as a concept was not well known among farmers, but there was receptivity among some to certain agroforestry practices, and an expressed desire to do more in their wood-lands. They were the most interested in using "treeshelters" to protect young seedlings to convert under-utilized pastures to woodland while allowing some livestock grazing on the land. Other practices of interest included establishing shelterbelts and hedgerows, planting fencelines and roadsides using a variety of species including sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and establishing small coppice woodlots or plantations of valuable timber species.Woodland management and agroforestry practices appear to have potential to expand among dairy farmers in Lewis County, New York, but a different programming approach is probably needed from Cooperative Extension to facilitate this expansion. For example, more attention should be paid to the constraints of farmers as well as to their specific interests, and steps need to be taken to involve them in the development and implementation of agroforestry schemes on their farms. Given such an approach and enough time, agroforestry practices could become incorporated into dairy farms in Lewis County, and possibly into farming systems throughout the northeastern United States.