Renewed interest for silvopastoral systems in Europe – an inventory of the feeding value of fodder trees

Summary

With the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU (CAP) there is a renewed attention for implementation of agroforestry and silvopastoral systems. The multifunctional use of trees for energy production, nutrient cycling, carbon storage, biodiversity, landscape and -last but not least- fodder could make trees a third crop next to grass and maize on dairy farms. To decide which trees to use for planting, it is important to have also insight into the feeding value of the different tree leave species. Therefore a database has been created on the basis of available literature on feeding values of leaves and twigs. Compared to grass, the in-vitro Organic Matter Digestibility of tree leaves is relatively low. However, crude protein and mineral levels of some species are relatively high, which shows the potential value of tree leaves as an additional feed source.