1-2-3: Silvopasture

Silvopasture is a land management technique, which integrates grazing livestock and trees on the same land. It reforests barren pasture land with forests, and sequesters five to 10 times as much carbon as treeless pasture. When done well, it creates better growth ecosystems for livestock and plants.

The technique's greenhouse gas mitigation is on the same scale as rooftop solar; making it one of the most promising technologies for combatting climate change.

1 Company

Working Trees

Working Trees helps farmers of all sizes use agroforestry and sell their carbon credits. The company is building an easy way to measure and sell the carbon stored in the trees you plant on pasture. This creates a second source of income for farmers along with the animals they're raising.

2 Facts

Cattle are sensitive to heat stress

Shade prevents heat stress, which can affect cattle's output and lifespan. Shaded pastures produce happier cattle, and can improve their yield. This is important because, cattle get heat stressed at low temperatures, as you can see in the image below.

Food production emits substantial amounts of Greenhouse gases

The EPA estimates that agriculture accounts for 11% of American Greenhouse Gases emissions. Land management is one of the most important techniques to manage farm emissions.

3 Articles

3000 Cattle in Kansas die due to heat stress

This article shows how sensitive cattle are to heat. Changes in temperature and drought conditions make this a more likely situation (if we keep getting hot summers).

Benefits of Silvopasture in the Tropics

The authors look at the potential longterm effects of Silvopasture in tropical areas. Silvopasture practices have the potential to cool the local environment on pasturelands. This is important in remote rural environments, where their use can boost crop yields.

You'll learn about common pitfalls, and see what silvopasture could look like at scale.

Drawdown's quick analysis of Silvopasture / Agroforestry

This analysis of Silvopasture dives deep into its impact at scale. It makes some bold data supported claims, but you'll see that there is massive potential for Silvopasture techniques. It can sequester gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere and produce higher quality livestock.