UNHIDE Agroforestry - A Knowledge Exchange Latvia- Sweden 2023-25 - Report - Page 14
Östergård farm: Combined forest grazing & forestry, Sweden
The 30-hectare grazed forest is fenced and divided into three large sections.
The herd has grown to eight cows and one bull.
Anders estimates that one cow can clear 1–2
hectares over three to five grazing seasons, depending on conditions. Recovery time is crucial
to avoid overgrazing and damage to ecological
values; when forage is scarce, sheep may strip
bark, and cattle and wildlife may browse buds.
To prevent overgrazing, animals are rotated by
managing access to water and salt. Closing one
water point and opening another prompts movement. In the future, water tanks will be replaced
with sunlit rainwater ponds connected by ditches,
using the same principle of controlled access.
“With this kind of rotation, it’s important to give
cows access to a road,” Anders explains. “Otherwise, they will create their own paths and damage
trees.”
“Carbon from fallen branches is pressed into the
soil through trampling instead of being oxidised.
Without grazers, clearing branches is a massive
task. After grazing, the forest becomes easier to
walk through, and the fire risk in late summer is
reduced.”
Interest in forest grazing is growing among Swedish forest owners as a tool for converting spruce
plantations into broadleaved forests. “Many would
absolutely adopt it,” Anders believes, “if there
were a dedicated compensation system.”
“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
“If forest grazing is well planned and overgrazing
— which was common in the past — is avoided,
forestry companies would also see the benefits.
What is missing from today’s subsidies for forest
and mosaic grazing is support for grazing as a
tool to create more robust ecosystems.”
The property also includes a stand of broadleaved
forest where Anders plans to introduce sheep.
They eat leaves while leaving branches intact, providing useful preparatory work before thinning.
Grazing has also significantly reduced mosquito
populations in marshland areas, making the landscape more open and pleasant to move through.
