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Silvopasture on a Shoestring

• Tuesday, October 7, 2025, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Join Joshua Greene, Director of Education at Trees For Graziers, Jonathan Bates, Statewide Agroforestry Educator, and Lynn Bliven, owner of Wild Geese Farm for a full day training event that will include classroom and hands-on sessions. The focus will be on DIY silvopasture projects on small grazing farms. We will address the practical considerations of tree establishment, protection, and maintenance while learning how silvopasture can help address your farm’s resource concerns and enhance livestock grazing.

Workshop sponsored by Allegany County Soil & Water Conservation District, Cornell Cooperative
Extension Allegany County & the Finger Lakes - Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance, will be held from 9am - 3pm and includes morning refreshments and lunch.

Topics:

• layout and design considerations
• tree species for silvopasture
• tree planting basics
• tree protection methods
• the importance of aftercare
• grazing considerations
• old orchard silvopasture
• tick concerns with silvopasture establishment

Cost $25/person. Held rain or shine. Preregistration requested by October 3rd, click here to register online. 

The Cornell Small Farm Program’s Veterans in Agriculture project, Farm Ops, can support veteran attendance to this event through its scholarship program. Learn more about for Agricultural Training Scholarships for NYS Veterans.

Our presenters: 

Joshua Greene, Director of Education at Trees For Graziers, runs Greene Kitchen Farm with his wife Nichole and their children. They custom graze certified organic dairy heifers and raise grass-fed beef & pastured poultry for direct market and ‘good eating’. Joshua and his family have worked to build a flexible, low-input grazing system on average Pennsylvania hillside soils. In place of the dying ash trees, they have planted over 2000 trees on the farm to provide shade for livestock.

Jonathan Bates focus is on supporting farmers statewide who are interested in exploring agroforestry systems on their land. Jonathan joijned CCE Tompkins County with valuable experience as a land steward and tree nursery owner in Caroline. His role is sharing and developing learning opportunities and helpful resources, communicating with land stewards, and collaborating with other County CCE's and the growing statewide agroforestry network.

About Wild Geese Farm: A 52-acre farm, raising registered Hereford cattle and Katahdin sheep. They have been rotationally grazing livestock for 30+ years. Farm Products include breeding stock along with grass-fed beef and lamb. This is their second season grazing within silvopasture planting while further developing an integrated system for the farm.

Location

Wild Geese Farm
8499 Agett Rd
Franklinville, NY 14737

Last updated September 24, 2025