Down Range Farm; Bonifay, FL

Contact name

EB Gallagher

Email

downrangefarm1776@gmail.com

Farm or Agroforestry Project name

Down Range Farm

Agroforestry practices

Silvopasture

Agroforestry Acreage

7 +/-

Years in Agroforestry

1

Agroforestry Summary

We have created a silvopasture with beef cattle and several varieties of chestnut trees in the NW Florida panhandle. The silvopasture is completely off grid and has several solar stations that run the various DC well pumps and irrigation equipment. Each tree has drip irrigation emitters on automatic timers to regulate consistent watering. Each tree is protected from cattle and deer grazing by modified tree tubes and electric fencing with step in posts.

Agroforestry Goals

Using the silvopasture to help supplement income for retirement while working with nature instead of against it. This process beautifies the property, gives shade for the animals who in turn graze and fertilize the trees in the process.

Practices and Production

We have three different varieties of Chestnut trees that will be used for nut production which we will hopefully be able to sell both nuts and seedlings in the future to supplement our retirement income.

Site Details and Background

Previous use of the land was row crops and chicken houses in the 19th century and then strictly traditional cattle grazing operation in the 20th century.

Agroforestry Assets, Challenges and Support 

The grant award was helpful but we found that the project took about 3-4 times the amount that we had anticipated to complete in both time and money. One should plan on that account and be ready for it as the grant only funds after the project is finished. If you are planting several acres, machinery is a must. We used our tractor extensively to dig the holes for the trees and irrigation valves, move supplies, dirt and trees themselves during planting. For tasks we would not do often we hired out, such as trenching, which I can say is very expensive itself even at a 1$ a foot it adds up very quickly. Physical tasks that we had a lot of, such as filling in trenches after lines and valves were laid, and helping planting were assisted by day hires off of places like marketplace. You need to plan for this both in budget and time it takes to find reliable help. These are not fire and forget workers, you need to be there with them on every step no matter how simple you think it is, after a few repetitions you'll see if your ready for them to do it on their own or not. Other recommendations is to plant a small test group before your main batch if you have not farmed there before. After doing so we found that are climate required the modification of the tree protection tubes which in turn required modification of our tree protection process and so on. Had we not done this test group we would have likely lost our entire batch the first year of planting. Cattle can be accustomed to the electric fence wire and tree guards at this time as well. We use the same color stakes on all our electric fencing so that they associate this color with something to stay away from.

Do you use other non-agroforestry conservation practices or other programs to help your Agroforestry Project? 

See above

Are you be willing to be contacted by people who are interested in agroforestry?

Yes

Are you open or available for visitors?

By appointment only - farm/business