We have established silvopasture using three land management strategies with varying degrees of success.
Silvopasture A. Our first attempt at silvopasture started in 2007. Wwe fallowed about 5 acres, allowing trees to regenerate naturally, while restricting livestock access for about 4 years. Then we released the "goat mob" to manage the overgrowth. Once the goats cleared some space for human access, we conducted a prescribed thinning to select for any beneficial species that survived the goat chaos. The result was a mixed pine and poplar silvpasture. We wanted oaks... but alas the goats ate them.

Silvopasture B. Our most successful planting was conducted in 2012. We fallowed another 7 acres, but conducted prescribed burnings every 2 years for 6 years. During that time we planted a stand of oak seedlings and restricted livestock for 5 years. In 2019, we re-introduced livestock once the oaks grew above the browse line.

3. Silvopasture C. Our least successful plantings started in 2018. We attempted to plant trees into existing pasture. Pressure from livestock was a major constraint and many of our plantings failed. Basically our strategy of tree cages did not work. After several failures, we changed tactics. Now we restrict certain areas of pasture during the summer months, stockpile tall fescue, and only allow sheep to graze during the winter months. The animals seem to ignore the seedlings when there are no leaves for them to eat. But even with these improvements, we still deal with high rates of mortality. Slowly but surely, the few survivors are reaching maturity. In about.... 3 more years, most of these trees will be above the browse line.