Monday, March 24, 2008

Agroforestry As An Agricultural Alternative

#3 Fruit Trees Although many people dream of one day owning and operating an orchard or vineyard in the Okanogan Valley in southern B.C or on the Niagara peninsula in southern Ontario, with land prices approaching $100,000 an acre for good orchard land, it may be difficult to convince the spouse and the kids to make the big jump. What may be come as a shock to some, is that the western provinces can grow a wide variety of fruit trees, shrubs and vines that are commonly associated with warmer climates to the south.

While small fruits such as saskatoons, cherries and raspberries have been the mainstay of rural U-picks for decades, the prospects for apples, plums pears and even apricots are becoming more prevalent on the market gardening scene. The main reason for this shift is the consumer demand for fresh locally grown product. With prairie U-pick apples going for as much as $2.00 a pound on the tree while beef and pork are often languishing below the $1.00 a pound on the hoof, it small wonder why many livestock producers are considering switching sides.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Agroforestry As An Agricultural Alternative

#4 Nut Trees It may come as a revelation to some, but years of global warming is not required before establishing a nut grove on the farm. Some of the trees that can be grown on the prairies that produce edible nuts include the Black Walnut, Bur Oak, Butternut, and Hazelnut.

If you are looking for an RRSP for your children and grandchildren, can’t do any better than planting black walnut trees on your farm or acreage. These majestic trees add mucho dineros to the value of the property when they are growing, produce copious volumes of tasty, edible nuts throughout their life and have an enormous value when the tree matures. The wood is highly prized as a cabinetry veneer and in the manufacture of gunstocks that has resulted in astronomical prices with some trees fetching upwards of $10,000 each.

Nut production can begin after as little as 5 years after planting but the production of veneer wood is a generation or so down the road. As an added bonus the black walnut roots produces it own herbicide called “juglone” that keeps the ground around the base of the tree relatively weed free.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Agroforestry As An Agricultural Alternative

#5 Sap Trees. Although maple sugaring is usually associated with eastern Canada, it is now possible to grow newly developed sugar maple varieties in sheltered locations throughout much of the Prairie Provinces. The major problem is that it takes up to 40 years for the sugar maples to become big enough to initiate sap production. The solution for many would-be sugar shackers is to harvest sap from alternative species.

Sap from Manitoba maples has about half the sugar content (about 3%) of sugar maples but there are millions of mature Manitoba maples throughout the western Canadian agricultural belt. Originally planted in the 1930s as part of the PFRA shelterbelt program, these trees are not only ready for tapping, but are in long straight rows close to county roads. The sap from Manitoba maples can be gathered and processed in exactly the same way as sugar maples.

Surprising as it may seem, but birch trees also produce a sugar sap that can be more valuable than maple sap. Since the sugar content of birch sap (1-2%) is much lower than maple sap, it is rarely boiled down into syrup but is actually bottled almost straight from the tree as a medicinal drink or distilled and combined with carbonated water to make “Birch Beer”. Birch beer is popular in the northeastern United States and in Atlantic Canada, while medicinal birch sap is a multi-million dollar industry in European Baltic countries.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Agroforestry As An Agricultural Alternative

Monday, March 3, 2008

With the price of feed grains skyrocketing, many grain farmers are laughing all the way to the bank while numerous livestock producers are finding difficulties making it from year to year. Regardless which situation your farm is currently experiencing, it is a perfect time to think about diversification as a hedge against future market reversal. One of the simplest ways to fancy up an every day cash flow is through agroforestry

Although planting trees as a long term investment has been known for years, what may come as a surprise to many landowners, is that the most valuable aspect of trees are rarely found in the back of a logging truck. The long, medium and short term return generated from small acreages of trees is often nothing short of spectacular. Listed in the next 5 weeks in order of importance are 5 types of plantations that can reap some big rewards