Woodland Grazing: Untapped Resource to Increase Economic Benefits from Forestland

The southeastern United States offers a tremendous opportunity for expanding woodland grazing technology for small ruminants in its almost 60 percent woodland. Like in many other states, Alabama alone has 23 million acres of woodland. Conversely, livestock owners face a daunting challenge to forage their animals for about seven lean months each year. Raising animals on concentrates, of course, is economically unfeasible for small-scale producers. Woodland grazing is an untapped practice that boosts economic, social, and environmental benefits to woodland owners. The objectives of this study were to diversify household cash flow for woodland owners and simultaneously promote forage-based livestock production systems. The study was conducted at Tuskegee University from 2017 to 2020 in 6 acres of woodland (southern pines and non-pine species). Meat goats (8 Wethers) and hair sheep (5 Rams) were grazed rotationally for 6 months (May–Oct.) until they consumed 50% of the available foliage. They were not fed any supplement feed while grazing in woodlands. The feeding cost was estimated using four scenarios: sack/pellet, hay, sack/pellet and hay, and woodland grazing holding health, management, minerals and water costs constant. Feeding cost was 58–204% lower, and labor cost was 50–100% less in woodland grazing compared to conventional feeding systems. Extrapolated data reveal that woodland owners may generate about $9,947.00 more cash flow annually from 50 acres with woodland grazing than without grazing. Moreover, the system approach strengthens knowledge, attitude, awareness, skill, and motivation of the family members and community as a percolation effect. Besides, the environmental benefits (controlling unwanted and invading species and aesthetic pleasure) increase the economic value. Results reveal that woodland grazing can open an enormous economic opportunity to all forestland owners by upholding annual cash flow while trees are growing and making the total returns from woodlands much higher than the monocropping-timber.

Promoting Reforestation to Landowners: The Role of Advice-Giving through Information, Efficacy, Narratives, and Identification in Storytelling

AbstractCommunicating reforestation efforts is a challenge for foresters. There are many types of advice to offer, and it is unclear which type of advice is better suited to promote tree-planting behaviors. This study explored the effectiveness of three different types of advice (narrative, informational, and efficacy) for different groups of landowners. We recruited landowners (N = 317) from the Driftless Area of Wisconsin and segmented them into two groups based on their self-reported stage of behavior. They were randomly assigned to view one type of advice message in the form of an online video. Landowners in the early stage of tree-planting behaviors had higher intentions to take the advice with a narrative message. Those in the later stage of behavior were more influenced by informational and efficacy advice messages. We also found that with narrative messages, identification with the narrator was important for increasing intention to use advice. Study Implications: Reforestation is a key component to preserving woodlands and maintaining ecosystems. Professional foresters are tasked with speaking to private woodland owners about this issue and encouraging tree-planting behaviors on their properties. However, not all advice is created equal, and the best type of advice may differ depending on the landowner. The results of this study show that it is important to (1) segment landowners into groups based on previous behaviors and (2) determine the best type of advice for each group. Our analyses found that landowners in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area could be segmented by differences in their current stages of behavior, and different groups responded more strongly to certain types of advice than others. This emphasizes the need for foresters to gain a better understanding of their intended audience rather than considering them as a homogeneous sample. Additionally, foresters can be more effective in advice-giving by creating individualized messages that target specific groups. This approach to advice-giving can be used by foresters to develop better communication strategies for their unique situation with woodland owners.

Using Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis for Creating Effective Outreach Messages to Promote Oak Management

Studies of woodland owner values, intentions, and actions have advanced understanding of barriers and motivators to active forest management. Social marketing research has likewise offered significant insights into the effective design of persuasive conservation campaigns and importance of factors such as message framing and use of social norms. Yet, evaluation of the attributes of outreach messages designed to encourage woodland owners to take action has received limited attention. We used an innovative marketing research approach, choice-based conjoint analysis, to determine what attributes of outreach messages are most persuasive. This study focused on woodland owners in the Midwest in the context of improving conditions for oak regeneration. We identified the importance of imagery and message source as of primary influence, whereas other attributes such as message framing and social norms were less influential. This study offers insights that can be evaluated with other targeted woodland owner audiences under different management contexts.

Research Into Woodland Owners’ Use of Sustainable Forest Management to Inform Campaign Marketing Mix

Thirty-five percent of forestland in the United States is owned by individuals. The purpose of this research was to identify woodland owners’ barriers to harvesting trees using the advice of a forester. Harvesting trees with the advice of a forester ensures a sustainable harvest that meets the needs of the woodland owner as the forester makes recommendations depending on what the woodland owner wants to gain from their land. The research further informed the marketing mix by identifying woodland owners’ perceptions about trusted communication channels, providing a framework for segmenting the audience, and pointing to viable outreach strategies for rural interventions. Results of mail (New England) and telephone (Mississippi) surveys indicated that selling trees for income was the lowest rated land use activity reported by woodland owners. Additionally, across both regions, the surveys indicated that the primary barrier to using a forester involved some form of distrust. When comparing trusted sources of information across the two regions, forestry experts were rated similarly, but family and other woodland owners were perceived as more trustworthy in New England compared to Mississippi. Both groups preferred to receive information in written form, a preference that was almost twice as high as receiving an e-mail. This research provides the foundation for a marketing mix, improves the conservation community’s body of knowledge regarding woodland owner’s barriers to sustainable forest management actions, and provides broad recommendations for practitioners to use going forward.