Please note: This is an Agroforestry Regional Knowledge Exchange (ARKx) Farmer/Agroforester Profile. This profile information is provided with permission so that others can see successful stories and learn more about regional agroforestry practice adoption. Please respect privacy and property; contact them directly via public information regarding opportunities to connect.
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Farm Name: River Bend Farm
Farmer: Will Bowling
State: Kentucky
Acreage: 21
Agroforestry Practices: Silvopasture, Riparian Buffers
Goals: Silvopasture: shade for livestock, nut and fruit production. Riparian buffer: erosion control, water quality protection, wildlife habitat
Farm Profile: We raise organic vegetables/cut flowers and pastured livestock (cattle, sheep, and goats) in Clay County, KY. We are huge proponents of rotational grazing, and subdivide our permanent pastures into smaller paddocks using temporary electric fencing. One of our limiting factors for pasture management - particularly in our river bottoms - is a lack of shade. Our primary reason for adding silvopasture to our operation is to provide additional shade throughout our pastures, which will provide more flexibility in paddock subdivision and forage management.
All species established in the high density planted silvopasture bear edible fruit or nuts. While a secondary focus, we do plan to sell some of these tree crops through our existing market outlets (CSA, online farm store, and commercial accounts) in the coming years.
In addition to the silvopasture, we also maintain a relatively large riparian buffer along Goose Creek (one of the main tributaries of the South Fork of the Kentucky River). Our main goal for the riparian buffer is to prevent bank sloughing and minimize fence damage during flood events, remove excess nutrients from water leaving the farm, and provide wildlife habitat.
Project Summary: High density planted silvopasture on 11 acres; half was established in 2022, and half in 2023. High density plantings include overstory trees (black walnut, pecan, and American persimmon) planted at 25' in-row spacing with 75' between-row spacing. Half of the high density silvopasture acreage includes pawpaws planted between overstory trees at 8' in-row spacing. The other half of the high density silvopasture acreage was underplanted with improved American elderberry, but the elderberry planting succumbed to deer browse. Our goal for overstory tree spacing at maturity is 50' in-row spacing with pawpaws maintained between overstory trees.
Low density planted silvopasture on 2 acres; established in 2020. These plantings include overstory trees (black walnut, hickory, and pecan) at 4 trees/acre coupled with understory species (flowering dogwood, eastern redbud) at 4 trees/acre. All trees are distributed randomly throughout the field.
Converted silvopasture on 3 acres; conversion was initiated on 2 acres in 2021, and on the remainder in 2024. This field was previously in very low-quality regenerating forest that included a large amount of invasive plants (autumn-olive, tree-of-heaven, Callery pear). After terminating the invasive species, we retained a residual overstory of ~35 trees/acre dominated by tulip-poplar, Virginia pine, and other native species. Overstory trees are distributed evenly throughout the field.
Riparian buffer on 5 acres. The buffer is ~2,800 long and averages 75' wide. All vegetation is naturally regenerating after having been cleared for farming in past decades. The overstory is dominated by black walnut, river birch, American sycamore, and tulip-poplar. The understory includes giant river cane, northern spicebush, American elderberry, pawpaw, and various herbaceous species.
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