Silvopasture Practices Help Pecan Production

Silvopasture Practices Help Pecan Production Three years of pasturing Noble Ranch pecan orchards and eliminating the use of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers have paid off with more plant, insect and animal diversity. Noble Research Institute (NRI) investigators are now comparing how these management changes affect pecan production and quality over time. NRI is the largest nonprofit agricultural research organization (Vol. 30, No. 3/Vol. 34, No. 4/Vol. 39, No. 3). “We went cold turkey in the pecan orchards,” says David Miller, who practiced intensive management on a 25-acre orchard similar to many conventional orchards. “We’d used herbicides to control grass and weeds in 6-ft. strips on both sides of the three rows and sprayed fungicides and insecticides up to eight times a year to protect the six types of improved cultivars growing there.” While Miller didn’t practice any grazing, Kevin Pierce did graze cows and stocker cattle for 90 days, March through May. He used less intensive practices on the 300-acre Noble Red River Ranch. He did mow and spray herbicides at times, and sprayed for fungal disease and harmful insect pests. That all stopped in the spring of 2021 as Miller and Pierce switched to multi-paddock grazing, rotating cows, calves and stockers, as well as sheep and goats, to feed on the plentiful forage. The forage included troublesome honeyvine milkweed that tended to wrap around pecan harvesting equipment. “Our primary focus was soil health using silvopasture and no chemical inputs,” says Nikki Charlton, NRI systems research manager and co-principal investigator for the Noble pecan strategy research team. Since 2022, the team has monitored and collected data at 67 sites on NRI ranch pecan orchards. In 2023, this research effort was expanded to include gathering data on more than 2,200 acres of pecans. The six-year project involves 22 pecan producers in Texas and Oklahoma. Practices at the commercial orchards range from high-input, fully conventional orchard management to those in transition to more regenerative practices, all the way to the Noble orchards. Researchers are sampling 151 sites in all. Monitoring includes collecting soil samples for soil health and microbial community structures, leaf samples for tree nutritional status, nut nutrient density and phytochemical composition, and assessing orchard health, including disease and insect pressure. The research team will compare profitability across the different management styles. They’re working with an Oklahoma State University pathologist to monitor soil and nut samples for foodborne pathogens related to grazing regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act. Using DNA extracted from bat guano, they’ll identify bat species and the pecan pests they eat. The hope is that attracting bats to the orchards will reduce pest damage to pecans. “Regenerative agriculture is about reducing inputs and working with nature,” says Charlton. “All of the decisions you’re making can really impact the system as a whole.” Miller notes seeing more beneficial insects that help control pecan insect pests. Pierce describes more butterfly, moth and bee activity. “Not only are we not killing the beneficials, we’re not killing the plants they feed on either.” Even wild hog predation is down, while deer, wild turkeys and bald eagles are increasing. “Because we either kept vegetation sprayed or mowed, there was no cover for them,” says Pierce. “Now they have a place to live.” Pierce credits guard dogs protecting the grazing sheep and goats for the reduced damage from wild hogs. “Wherever the dogs are, the hogs aren’t out there tearing up the orchard,” he says. “That’s helped with our wild hog problem, because the dogs don’t want them around.” “Producers were excited to see how we use temporary fences to graze the orchard successfully without harming the irrigation system,” says Charlton. “We’re already seeing some participating producers making changes toward more regenerative practices.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Noble Research Institute, 2510 Sam Noble Pkwy., Ardmore, Okla. 73401 (ph 580-223-5810; www.noble.org).

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