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Can we change forestry to make it attractive to family farmers? In this episode Rowan Reid reflects on the history of forestry on farms in Australia and his involvement over the last 40 years. It's clear that forestry is not working for farmers and we need to change the way we talk about and support forestry in the family farming landscape.

Key words: Forestry, Farm Forest, Forester, Trees, Agroforestry, Regenerative Agriculture, Landcare, Timber, Lumber, Farming, Plantation

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My guest to talk about pruning trees for high quality timber is Josquin Tibbits; professional Arborist and Forest Scientist. Josky has been harvesting and milling pruned trees for his own building project. We discuss why, how, when and with what to prune young trees in order to confine branch knots to a central core and increase the proportion of high quality timber that can be recovered from the logs. On the Bambra Agroforestry Farm we have been pruning more than 70 different tree species for timber and the results are great.

Key words: Forestry, Farm Forest, Forester, Trees, Agroforestry, Regenerative Agriculture, Landcare, Timber, Lumber, Sawmilling, Farming, Plantation

Online Pruning Information: https://www.agroforestry.net.au/
Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@bambraagroforestryfarm4008

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Andrew Stewart is a multi-award winning farmer in the Otways in southern Victoria, Australia. I'm a forest scientist with a small tree farm in the next valley. For more than 35 years we have shared a passion for making multipurpose tree growing attractive to family farmers in our region. With others, we set up the Otway Agroforestry Network in 1993; ran the first Australian Master TreeGrower course in 1996; and, developed a unique Peer Group Mentoring program to support farmers as they explore their tree growing options.

The Otway Agroforestry network is now one of the largest farmer-led groups of its kind and the landscape around us has changed dramatically: there is now a diversity of tree planting that I've not seen anywhere in the world. And, we are now producing a range of high quality products, including timber, from the trees we planted for shelter and land protection.

In this podcast Andrew and I reflect on the past and imagine what the future may hold for agroforestry in the Otways.

For more about the Otway Agroforestry Network check out this series of Podcasts made by the team: https://fortheloveoftrees.buzzsprout.com/

Key words: Forestry, Farm Forest, Forester, Trees, Agroforestry, Regenerative Agriculture, Landcare, Timber, Lumber, Sawmilling, Bushfood, Carbon, Biodiversity, Soil Conservation, Farming, Environment, Plantation

Thanks to our friends at Mountain Grey for the theme music:
www.reverbnation.com/mountaingrey/songs

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