ÖSTERGÅRD FARM. One of our much awaited visits during the road trip was Östergård farm in Vrankunge south of Växjö, a forest grazing system with a historical bond to nearby Urshult, known for its “fruit meadow orchards”; an ancient agroforestry system of combined pasture, mowing and “cow-grafted” wild apple trees.
Forest grazing was historically the most common practice of agroforestry. In Sweden it is represented by the traditional pastoral practice “fäbobruk” - a secluded summer farmstead (a handful of simple cabins for families and livestock) at distance from precious and scarce farmland, where livestock grazed freely and dairy products were crafted by hand, often managed by women and once the heartbeat of Sweden’s rural economy. The access to the forest was regulated by consent from forest owners and neighbours. Fäbobruk was recently inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
At Östergård farm, Anders Rydén has been managing his production forest since 2017 with the help of Belted Galloway cattle, to keep away underbrush, in order to get faster forest growth. A method that increases biodiversity.
When Anders inherited the family farm with 100 hectares of forest, the cyclone “Gudrun” (2005), one of the biggest environmental disasters in Swedish history, had blown down all the trees that were 30 years or older, mostly spruce. Anders' intention for continued management was a transition from spruce monoculture, which is severely threatened by drought, rot, storms, spruce bark beetle and fire in southern Sweden, to a deciduous forest, which is more robust and suits the land better.
As a boy Anders spent the summers here with his grandparents, milking cows and helping on the farm. Apple trees around the farm gave the cows shade in the summer and shelter during harsh winters.
“CRISIS IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION”
Managing the forest after the storm required unconventional help. This was the trigger for the mental process, Anders recalls, that led up to improved biological processes, as he realized that favouring broadleaved trees is easier with grazing animals. Initially he fenced and let four cows in, to graze in the young forest. The new trees that had grown up (12 years after the cyclone) were large enough and not at risk of being damaged by browsing. Soon he made interesting observations.
“Thanks to the weeds and herbs that come in with the grazing, the soil is repaired. Now I have worms in the soil, next year there will be dandelions here. With the mixed forest and the presence of the cows, the birds have come back. The dung provides flies that attract these birds that are ready when the spruce bark beetles swarm.”
The diversity and improved soil flora also benefited the wildlife: “Thanks to the grazing of the cows, a more nutritious grass comes in after just a few years. When there is more grass in the forest, wildlife damage is reduced. Deer and elk are now to a larger extent content with grazing instead of browsing shoots.”
“The clearing must be done more frequently without the cattle, as the animals do a more thorough job. The earlier they are allowed in before the first thinning, the better the forest grows. Without the cattle it would not be profitable.” - Anders Rydén
Another conclusion was that the cows’ grazing and trampling after only three years reduced the cost of the forest company’s clearing with 90 Euros per hectare (a contractor costs 500 Euros per hectare, 2024).
The trees Anders favors are linden, beech, oak, elm, cherry and spruce, and with the thinning by browsing, the tree's growth rate increases. The cattle are especially helpful in thinning out saplings of rowan, aspen, alder and maple. As Belted Galloway cows are happy with leaner pasture, the forest grazing also saves money on expensive silage. By-products are linden honey, more berries in the forest and fantastic, locally produced meat.
The 30 hectares grazed forest is fenced and divided into three large areas. The herd is now 8 cows and a bull.
Anders
calculates with 1 cow for clearing 1-2 hectares during 3-5 seasons. The
time frame depends on the season. The recovery time is crucial in order
not to overgraze or destroy natural values; when there is not enough
pasture, sheep tend to eat bark and cows and wildlife browse buds.
To avoid overgrazing, the animals are rotated by controlling the availability of water and salt. By closing off one water station and opening the next, the cows move. The water tanks will eventually be replaced by rainwater ponds in sunny pockets, connected by ditches, while making use of the same system of allowing and restricting access.
“With this type of rotation, it’s important to give the cows access to a road, otherwise they will make their own path and damage the trees.”
“The
carbon in fallen branches goes into the ground when trampled, instead
of being oxidized. Without the grazers, it is a huge job to empty the
forest of branches. After the cows have grazed in the forest, it is
easier to walk around, and we have no risk of fire during the late
summer.”
Among
Swedish forest owners there is an increasing interest in forest grazing
as a tool for converting spruce plantations into broadleaf forests,
“many would absolutely go for it”, Anders believes, if there was a
separate compensation system for it: “If you plan the forest grazing in a
good way and avoid overgrazing, which was common in the past, the
forestry companies as well should realize the benefits. What is missing
in today’s subsidies for forest- and mosaic grazing is the support for
grazing as a tool to create more robust ecosystems.
The property also includes a stand of broadleaf forest, where Anders’ flock of sheep will be let in. The sheep eat leaves and leave the branches, doing a good preparatory work before thinning. In addition, Anders states that they got rid of a lot of mosquitoes that lay eggs in the grass on their marshland, now it’s more open and more pleasant to walk.
Going forward, Anders has plans to grow black walnuts (Juglans nigra) for timber and to use more animals for various services, such as the Swedish forest bread “Linderödsgris” that like to feed on nuts; a semi wild pig which roamed the beech- and oak forests of southern Sweden until the end of the 19th century.
“Imagine a meadow or forest edge where rose hip, Korean silverbush, honeyberries, walnuts, fruit trees and chestnuts grow with native species; plants that are beneficial to the animals and can be spread further by the animals. In such meadow or forest edges combined with grazing in a planned way, grass also has a function to fulfil, while normally, grass is something you try to avoid in a forest garden context. Grazing animals eating fallen fruit reduce parasite infestations, disrupting the parasites’ life cycle. This should also apply to the cow weevil (Curculio nucum) destroying hazelnuts”, Anders figures. “Furthermore, nitrogen- fixing trees have green leaves later in the fall, making them an asset in a grazing system.”
In Sweden, forestry is the largest driver of biodiversity degradation; thousands of hectares of forests and monoculture tree plantations are logged, and replanted with monocultures each year without regard for climate stability, biodiversity and long term ecological health.
Silvopastoralism started to decline in the 1600s when trees for charcoal and timber became an economically lucrative resource. At this time grazing started to be considered to negatively influence the regeneration of trees, while the real reason was the growing importance of the Swedish state and private businesses as forest owners, both having no economic interest in keeping animals in forests.
A growing body of literature from rural sociology, agroecology and conservation biology suggests that silvopastoralism, selective thinning and horse traction have great potential to enable multifunctional and biodiverse forests, as well as contributing to securing national sovereignty in terms of food, water and fibre.
Anders advice is to not let the cows use the same place for resting and grazing, as the dung will be concentrated in one place, leading to rotten tree roots.
Photos:
Anders is employed as a Service Technician in Växjö and is not dependent on making a living from the forest, at this stage.
The purpose of a thick electric fence is for wild animals to see it. The cows respect the fence as long as they have pasture.
Linden is suitable for building sauna interiors.
Thorny bushes can act as a nursery for fruit- or deciduous trees. The blackthorn slowly but surely withers in the shade of a few oaks and wild apples. Similarly, The Celts considered the oak, ash and thorn a sacred trio. While thorn and ash offered a perfect nursery, with even temperatures, water and nutrients supply, the jay is famous for hiding acorns in spots protected by thorny shrubs.