Tree Hay – Storing Tree Branches for Livestock Feed.

‘Make hay while the sun shines’ may be the motto of rural New Zealand summers but this year, in many places, it took on a whole new desperation. Day after day of rain held many contractors in limbo and their client lists just kept growing, along with their frustrations. But there is an alternative, an ancient practice dating back centuries if not millennia. Tree Hay, the act of harvesting, trussing and storing cut leafy branches for supplementary feed over winter and drought periods. This traditional feed preservation method predates the making of pasture hay but was also utilised as a backup method in case wet weather ruined the pasture hay crop. Diversity within your landscape and feed systems is always a good thing and establishing a system which is not reliant on one source of feed or stored feed builds a more resilience feed supply.  

It was the observation of our livestock seeking out certain trees and shrubs which bordered their paddocks which led us to explore tree and shrub fodder. This developed into the creation of a small home-based nursery and the beginning of our ‘Fodder Farm’ journey in the high country of Manawatu.

This journey has taken us to a new property, in the back country hills of the Ruapehu district where we have had to start again. A new property on which to develop new systems and off grid systems at that. But it has not stopped us from sharing what we have learnt along the way on our website fodderfarm.co.nz and more recently through the publishing of our first Fodder Farm Handbook.

FODDER AND FORAGE – Creating Diverse Animal Feed Systems in New Zealand, available from our shop.

This handbook is an introduction to the concept of tree and shrub fodder and forage and utilising them as stored feed. It contains information on suitable trees and shrubs for most New Zealand climates based on ruminant (cattle, sheep, goat, deer) browsing. But also includes information on developing diverse feed systems for horses, pigs, rabbits and chickens.

Here is a couple of excerpts from the Tree Hay section.

‘The deeper root systems of trees can better access lower soil levels to reach moisture and pull up more nutrients, especially minerals, and gives them stronger capabilities to handle extended periods of dry weather. Many tree species are higher in nutrients than most pasture species, especially if those pastures are often overgrazed and do not develop deep root systems. The mycorrhizal fungal connections of trees help convert these nutrients into more accessible forms for plant and animal absorption. The inclusion of tree feed also extends the natural medicinal capabilities of your stock feed, allowing stock to self-medicate where needed, resulting in less parasite burdens and therefore stronger livestock.

Tree hay is mostly harvested early to mid-summer when the trees are in full leaf and there is a large amount of nutrient in the leaves and small twigs. These nutrients remain in the tree hay as it dries and is stored. The action of preserving tree fodder by drying, or making silage also increases palatability by reducing the bitter taste of tannins. There are larger amounts of tannins and other antinutrients in some tree fodder and forage, so it is important to use it as a supplementary feed only. Studies have shown cattle can consume from 12-55 % tree forage or tree hay, sheep 20-76 % and goats 60-93 % depending on the digestibility of species of tree. Goats are more tolerant of high levels of tree feed in their diet because their saliva can bind tannins and they have a large liver which can process tannins well. If diversity of feed is provided to your livestock, they are capable of self-regulating their intake and they can avoid excessive intake of single species. This can help them avoid nutrient deficiencies as most animals are capable of sourcing what they need if the feed available is diverse enough.  Even if the source is not usually palatable to them, they will eat it if it contains necessary nutrients.

The content of some minerals is higher in dried tree hay than in fresh forage which increases its value as a sustainable source of minerals. However, as some animals are susceptible to excess minerals which can be toxic, observation of stock is necessary especially when they are new to tree feed systems. The addition of free source minerals (minerals made available for animals to self-dose) is another point to consider if you are aware of mineral deficiencies on your property. This can be as simple as including a Himalayan salt block or a seaweed salt block or creating a system providing a selection of free flow minerals. The animal then distributes the minerals ingested, via urine and manure over your property therefore increasing the mineral content of the land.’

‘The harvested branches are 60cms to 2m in length and traditionally were bundled together tightly then tied with twisted ropes of willow or hazel stems (baling twine or flax could easily fulfil this purpose in NZ) These were then stored by drying outside, often hung in a tree, secured to racks between trees, or racks in buildings were also used in some areas. As long as there is adequate air flow any shed or below a roof space will do.’

‘Tree hay is a valuable feed storage alternative to traditional pasture hay and silage. Analysed tree fodder has been shown to generally contain higher levels of beneficial trace minerals and good nutritional values for naturally occurring fats, sugars and proteins when compared to both meadow hay and red clover. There are studies that show livestock fed on tree hay often have lower worm counts due to the anti-parasitic actions of the condensed tannins found in tree fodder.

It opens possibilities for hay harvest on landscapes which might not be suitable for pasture haymaking, or where people do not have the resources to make bales. It can also mean properties with existing suitable tree species can further utilised their land to create stored feed therefore reducing the need for inputs.’

There have been many trials of tree feed lots across New Zealand, mostly focusing on poplar (Populus spp), willow (Salix spp) and tree lucerne (Chamaecytisus palmensis). All these trees have great merit within a tree feed system but there is a much wider range of suitable trees and shrubs which can be utilised. To my knowledge there have been no studies or trials done on tree hay in New Zealand, however trials were undertaken at the Knepp Castle Estate in southern England. The bundles of tree hay, also known as ‘faggots’, were stored fresh (green), horizontally under shelter and in a tight stack. The amazing thing was that many of these bundles, which were a variety of species of trees and shrubs, still had green leaves after a season or two of storage. Some even stayed green after 24 months of storage.

Our current experience is limited to harvesting pre-existing species on our land, but our first trial showed positive results with the cattle readily devouring the tree hay. This season we have trialed drying more bundles, with a greater variety of tree species on a purpose-built rack in our shed. This has worked well over all with the livestock consuming most of the bundles when feed out.

A few observations we have made are; that there are some losses due to insect damage, however the cattle still eat the remaining leaf. Mice seem to like stacked bundles, but this also does not appear to have reduced palatability. Most of the species we used browned off except for some of the mahoe, which though well dried still retained a lot of its green colour. Some of the flax ties we used to secure the bundles broke, but this appears to be due to mice or insect damage.

Our plan is to plant a mixed tree feed lot for both tree hay harvesting and occasional browsing. This tree lot is to include a mix of evergreen and deciduous, native and exotic trees based on what performs well in our environment, their provision of suitable nutrients and palatability to our livestock. All trees are also to be easily propagated and mostly eco sourced from our wider environment. This reduces the cost of setting up our feed system and ensures a better establishment of the tree crops. Currently many of these trees are still babies planted in temporary beds in our extensive vegetable garden. With more eco sourced seeds due to be sown and winter cuttings to be taken this will increase our homegrown fodder trees immensely.

A big part of our life here on Fodder Farm is about building our self-reliance and establishing year-round feed systems for ourselves and our livestock is a large part of this. The more we can close the loops on our property the more resilient we become, the more diversity we establish the better we are able to handle what nature throws at us.