Trees on Farms
admin@acs.edu.au
IMPORTANT REASONS FOR USING TREES
The importance of trees to land management cannot be overstated. Often in the past they have been seen as competing for valuable land space and felled indiscriminantly. Over clearing of trees can lead to salinity problems and numerous forms of erosion, including land slips, and as a result, reduced water quality. As we have become more familiar with their vital role in ecological processes, retention and selective planting of trees has been widely acknowledged, in improving farm viability and ultimately production. Put simply the benefits, both financially and environmentally, far outweigh the costs of establishing such plants on farms.
How trees can help the farmer:
* Erosion control
Trees help control or reduce erosion in several ways, including:
- By their roots binding soil particles together.
- By acting as windbreaks, decreasing the winds ability to dislodge and move soil
particles. This reduces wind erosion, and minimises damage to crops due to windblown
debris and sediment, and reduces build up of windblown debris on fences, against
buildings, etc.
- Acting as a physical barrier trapping moving soil/sand particles.
- Windbreaks/shelter belts also provide significant protection to stock against hot or cold
winds, rain, hail and snow, and provide shade on hot days. This can significantly
increase yields in stock, as less energy is required to keep stock cool on warm days,
and warm on cool days. Instead the energy can be utilised in increased production (e.g.
more meat, milk, is produced). There can also be greatly increased survival rates, in
windbreak protected areas, of lambing, etc.
- Emergency fodder & timber
- Vegetation cover provides a filter that helps clean water as it moves to the ground and
across a property.
- Tree cover reduces evaporation through shade and shelter (ie. reducing drying winds).
- Reducing the erosive potential of rainfall by providing a protective cover over the soil
below, intercepting rainfall, which then either:
1) evaporates back into the atmosphere without ever reaching the ground,
2) drips slowly from the tree foliage reducing the potential for surface runoff (longer time
available for water to infiltrate into the soil), hence reducing the likelihood of surface
erosion.
3) flows down the branches, and trunk of the trees eventually reaching the ground, but
with far less erosive power (energy) than if it dripped or fell directly onto the
ground surface.
* Lowering watertables - this helps lower water tables reducing waterlogging of surface
soils & salinity problems, which can significantly reduce yield (i.e. loss of productive
pasture, soil structure decline), as is happening in the MIA (Murray Irrigation Area,
Australia).
* Timber - This could be in commercial plantations (your own home grown
superannuation!), or for your own use (e.g. for fence posts & rails). This can
significantly reduce the need for remnant forests to be logged.
* Pulpwood - Some eucalypts (e.g. E. globulus - the Blue Gum), are being extensively
planted to produce pulp for paper production. They can reach harvestable size in as little
as 15-25 years, unlike Eucalypts grown for timber, which may take 70-80 years or more
before being ready for harvest.
* Firewood - both for your own use, or as a commercial crop. This also reduces the
reliance on our remnant forests.
* Fodder, particularly at times of drought (eg. Lucerne).
* Honey production.
* Wildlife habitat (nesting, food, shelter, etc)
* Firebreaks, if fire resistant or retardant species selected. This could reduce the effects of
fire on buildings, other structures, even pasture behind the firebreak.
* Aesthetics - improving the visual appearance of a landscape.
IMPORTANT REASONS FOR USING TREES
The importance of trees to land management cannot be overstated. Often in the past they have been seen as competing for valuable land space and felled indiscriminantly. Over clearing of trees can lead to salinity problems and numerous forms of erosion, including land slips, and as a result, reduced water quality. As we have become more familiar with their vital role in ecological processes, retention and selective planting of trees has been widely acknowledged, in improving farm viability and ultimately production. Put simply the benefits, both financially and environmentally, far outweigh the costs of establishing such plants on farms.
How trees can help the farmer:
* Erosion control
Trees help control or reduce erosion in several ways, including:
- By their roots binding soil particles together.
- By acting as windbreaks, decreasing the winds ability to dislodge and move soil
particles. This reduces wind erosion, and minimises damage to crops due to windblown
debris and sediment, and reduces build up of windblown debris on fences, against
buildings, etc.
- Acting as a physical barrier trapping moving soil/sand particles.
- Windbreaks/shelter belts also provide significant protection to stock against hot or cold
winds, rain, hail and snow, and provide shade on hot days. This can significantly
increase yields in stock, as less energy is required to keep stock cool on warm days,
and warm on cool days. Instead the energy can be utilised in increased production (e.g.
more meat, milk, is produced). There can also be greatly increased survival rates, in
windbreak protected areas, of lambing, etc.
- Emergency fodder & timber
- Vegetation cover provides a filter that helps clean water as it moves to the ground and
across a property.
- Tree cover reduces evaporation through shade and shelter (ie. reducing drying winds).
- Reducing the erosive potential of rainfall by providing a protective cover over the soil
below, intercepting rainfall, which then either:
1) evaporates back into the atmosphere without ever reaching the ground,
2) drips slowly from the tree foliage reducing the potential for surface runoff (longer time
available for water to infiltrate into the soil), hence reducing the likelihood of surface
erosion.
3) flows down the branches, and trunk of the trees eventually reaching the ground, but
with far less erosive power (energy) than if it dripped or fell directly onto the
ground surface.
* Lowering watertables - this helps lower water tables reducing waterlogging of surface
soils & salinity problems, which can significantly reduce yield (i.e. loss of productive
pasture, soil structure decline), as is happening in the MIA (Murray Irrigation Area,
Australia).
* Timber - This could be in commercial plantations (your own home grown
superannuation!), or for your own use (e.g. for fence posts & rails). This can
significantly reduce the need for remnant forests to be logged.
* Pulpwood - Some eucalypts (e.g. E. globulus - the Blue Gum), are being extensively
planted to produce pulp for paper production. They can reach harvestable size in as little
as 15-25 years, unlike Eucalypts grown for timber, which may take 70-80 years or more
before being ready for harvest.
* Firewood - both for your own use, or as a commercial crop. This also reduces the
reliance on our remnant forests.
* Fodder, particularly at times of drought (eg. Lucerne).
* Honey production.
* Wildlife habitat (nesting, food, shelter, etc)
* Firebreaks, if fire resistant or retardant species selected. This could reduce the effects of
fire on buildings, other structures, even pasture behind the firebreak.
* Aesthetics - improving the visual appearance of a landscape.