Overcoming history: attitudes of resource professionals and farmers toward silvopasture in southwest Wisconsin

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• 作者：Diane Mayerfeld ; Mark Rickenbach ; Adena Rissman
• 关键词：Silvopasture ; Agroforestry ; Farmers ; Resource professionals ; Attitudes ; Midwest
• 刊名：Agroforestry Systems
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：October 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：90
• 期：5
• 页码：723-736
• 全文大小：688 KB
• 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
• 刊物主题：Life Sciences
  Forestry
  Agriculture
  
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1572-9680
• 卷排序：90

文摘

In the Midwestern US, both forestry and agriculture advisors have advocated against combining trees and livestock for more than 50 years. This established stance poses a potential barrier to the adoption of silvopasture, an agroforestry practice that integrates grazing with trees. We conducted three focus group interviews in southwestern Wisconsin, two with foresters and agriculture professionals, and one with farmers to assess their attitudes toward silvopasture. Although resource professionals were reluctant to endorse livestock access to woodlands, they were cautiously interested in exploring silvopasture as a means to improve the management of grazing in wooded areas and as a management tool for savanna restoration. Foresters, agricultural professionals, and farmers identified similar potential benefits and concerns associated with silvopasture, and requested better information on establishment, economics, and best management practices for silvopasture in the Midwest. Their questions and concerns provide direction for future silvopasture research and outreach efforts in the Midwest.