Farm Forestry and Habitat Management
 

Table of Contents

Introduction

 

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Table of Contents
for Farm Forestry and Habitat Management BMP Booklet

4 FARM FORESTRY AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT
4 Introduction
   
6 PLANNING FOR FORESTRY AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT
6 Land Uses on the Farm
7 Best Management Practices
8 Fragile and Marginal Lands Defined
9 Planning for Farm Forestry and Habitat Management
10 Suitability of Options with Various Land Uses on the Farm
   
11 BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
11 The Benefits
11 The Farmstead
12 Windbreaks and Shelterbelts
15 Suitability of Tree Species to Ontario Soil Types
16 Natural Fencerows
17 Reforestation
18 Cost and Benefits of Plantation Types
19 Buffer Strips
22 Wildlife Habitat Management
26 Wildlife Food and Cover Plantings
27 Native Shrubs for Wildlife Food
28 Intercropping
29 Silvipasture
30 Woodland Management
31 Timber and Firewood Production
32 Post and Pole Production
32 Suitability of Various Species as Wood Products
   
33 CASE STUDIES
33 Overview
34 Farm A
36 Farm B
   
38 HOW TO
38 Get Help
38 Order Trees
38 Handle Nursery Stock
39 Planting
39 Maintain Trees
41 Manage a Plantation
   
  CONTACTS AND SOURCES

 

FARM FORESTRY AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT

 

INTRODUCTION

Plant one tree each spring. If you read no further, or when the rest of this booklet is all but forgotten, remember to plant one tree each spring. The earth needs more trees and your farm will benefit too.

If it has to do with woodlots, windbreaks, watercourses, wetlands, and wildlife, then there's information in this booklet. The information found in the following pages offers an understanding of where, how and to what extent nature can blend with farming. Both the environment and your pocket book can benefit from this union.

This booklet is intended to get you started but cannot replace on-site advice. Such advice is available at no cost from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF), and Conservation Authorities (CAs). Check the final section for telephone numbers.

Tree products can be very profitable. Crop and livestock yields can be greatly increased with shelter from trees. The environmental benefits of trees and natural areas are vital to the quality of all of our lives.
 
Trees and agriculture are intimately tied together.
 
Extension staff are available to assist in on-site advice and planning.

The differences between farmland and natural areas are familiar to all of us. The environmental impact of these two areas is less clear. Not all impacts are severe and not all farms have negative impacts upon environmental quality. Some of the potential problems related to agriculture are listed below:

  • Increased soil erosion by wind, water and tillage.
  • Streams can be clouded by sediment and contaminated by leached or eroded fertilizers (especially phosphorus) and pesticides.
  • Sediment can cover and destroy fish spawning areas.
  • Sediment fills up expensive reservoirs.
  • Lack of stream-side vegetation increases the water's exposure to sunlight. Algae-choked water becomes too warm and oxygen-poor for trout and many other fish species.
  • Where streams are crossed by livestock, the banks become eroded and animal wastes contaminate the water.
  • Risk of flooding and streambank erosion may increase because of the rapid drainage of water from farm fields into drains and other watercourses; less rainfall is directed to groundwater.
  • The variety of living things decreases.
  • Suitable wildlife habitat exists only in isolated woodlots or natural areas, and there-fore, many animals do not have enough space to satisfy their needs.
  • Higher wind speeds resulting from a lack of tree cover can decrease crop yields.
  • Loss of topsoil through erosion reduces productivity and requires increased inputs of fertilizer, etc.
  • Impact of drought is intensified.

This booklet describes a number of best management practices for farm forestry and habitat management. Each practice can reduce some of the impacts listed above; most also offer financial benefits. This booklet is an introductory guide. More detailed information is available from sources mentioned throughout.

Trees help reduce negative impacts of agriculture.

 


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Last Updated: Friday, May 08, 2009 07:31:45 AM