 Throughout the Midwest and Great Plains, trees offer a wide variety of benefits for nearly any farm. Depending on soil type, tree species, planting design and location, trees can reduce soil erosion. Protect farmsteads, livestock and roads from wind and snow, increase crop yields, produce wood products, diversify wildlife habitat, and enhance recreational and aesthetic qualities of the landscape. The Conservation Compliance Provision in the 1985 Farm Bill requires farmers and other land users and operators to develop a soil conservation plan on their highly erodible land by 1990 and to implement it by 1995. Trees can be a very useful component of nearly any farm conservation plan. Tree plantings on agricultural land in the Midwest and Great Plains can be used for a variety of purposes. This program briefly describes the design, establishment and maintenance of tree plantings, including field windbreaks, farmstead shelter belts, timber, fuel wood, nuts and wildlife. Some of these plantings may be appropriate in your area. First let's look at field windbreaks. A field windbreak can reduce soil erosion during months when a field lacks cover and wind velocity commonly exceeds 13 miles per hour. In a dry climate, moisture conservation may be essential for crop production. When oriented perpendicular to prevailing winter wind, a windbreak with the proper tree species and spacing can spread snow evenly across a field adding soil moisture on the leeward side. A windbreak oriented perpendicular to prevailing summer wind can reduce water evaporation and transpiration on the leeward side, possibly increasing crop yields. A field windbreak can reduce wind speed on the leeward side for a distance of 10 to 20 times the average height of the tallest trees. For example, if a windbreak averages 30 feet in height, it will significantly reduce wind speed for a distance of at least 300 feet on the leeward side. To achieve satisfactory wind reduction and snow distribution, a windbreak should have a density of approximately 30 to 65 percent. A lower density will not slow the wind sufficiently. A higher density will result in very low wind speed directly behind the windbreak, but higher than desirable wind speed a short distance beyond the windbreak. Windbreak density depends more on the tree species and spacing used than on the number of tree rows. It's possible to have adequate density with one or two tree rows, especially where proper snow distribution is the primary goal. Here are some typical field windbreak designs. For a list of recommended tree species, contact a forester, soil conservationist or extension agent. A farmstead shelter belt can protect buildings or livestock. A properly designed farmstead or livestock shelter belt can reduce heat loss from buildings in winter, eliminate snow drips from work areas, and reduce livestock weight losses and deaths during severe winter weather. Such plantings also beautify the farmstead and provide habitat for songbirds and other wildlife. A farmstead shelter belt usually should be located 100 feet from the area to be protected and should be perpendicular to prevailing winter wind. A living barn is a form of shelter belt planted in the corner of a pasture where livestock would commonly drift during winter storms. A shelter belt usually has two or more rows of trees and is usually denser than a field windbreak because a shelter belt should greatly reduce wind speed and stop snow close to the belt. A properly located shrub row is helpful in controlling snow drifts and reducing wind speed when trees are young and offer little protection. Shrubs also may provide low ground cover and food for wildlife and can add aesthetic appeal. Here are some typical row arrangements for farmstead shelter belts. A forester, soil conservationist or extension agent can recommend tree and shrub species to plant. To become an effective wind barrier, a field windbreak or farmstead shelter belt may need to grow for several years depending on the tree species and spacing used but it should survive for 50 years or more. A timber plantation could produce wood products for use around the farm or for sale. Plantation design depends on the products to be produced and tree species adapted to the site. A forester can provide information about common woodland products and their markets in your area. Potential products may include fuel wood, pulp wood, posts, poles, saw timber or veneer. Most plantations are designed to produce several different products over the life of the stand. On many sites fuel wood or posts could be produced in 10 to 20 years. Pulp wood or poles in 20 to 40 years. Saw timber in 40 to 60 years and veneer in 50 to 80 years. Plantations usually should be thinned at 10 to 20 year intervals to maintain vigorous growth on remaining trees and to produce income. Species in demand for high quality saw timber or veneer can be pruned when they are 3 to 6 inches in trunk diameter to remove lower limbs and improve the quality and value of their butt logs. Contact a forester for advice on which tree species to plant. In some locations fuel wood plantations may be recommended. Trees should be planted at a close spacing to enable the tree crowns to close and suppress weed growth in a year or two. Trees should be harvested every 5 to 15 years depending on the type and size of fuel wood products in demand. Species should be planted that grow very fast and regenerate from stump sprouts. A forester can recommend tree species to plant. In some parts of the Midwest black walnut or pecan trees are planted for their nuts, which are harvested for sale. Nut trees usually are planted at a wider spacing than trees planted for timber production to encourage large crown formation. This need for a wider spacing has led to the practice of planting agricultural crops between tree rows for several years to produce an annual income until the trees are large enough to fully occupy the site. Nut trees may be planted in rows 15 to 25 feet apart depending on the width of agricultural equipment to be used between rows. Trees within a row are often planted 6 to 15 feet apart and later thin to a wider spacing. Commercial nut production usually begins after 10 to 15 years. Agricultural crops produced between tree rows must be plant and managed carefully to avoid or damaging the nut trees with farm equipment or chemicals. Wildlife plantings can provide cover nesting sites and food for wildlife. Plantation design and tree species selection vary depending on the habitat requirements of desired wildlife. It's often possible to incorporate wildlife habitat into the design of timber and windbreak plantings. A block wildlife planting could include grasses, shrubs, conifers and tall deciduous trees. Windbreaks can also be designed for wildlife habitat. To obtain a list of recommended tree and shrub species, contact a forester, soil conservationist or extension agent. Some farmers find that a combination of trees, grass and cropland best meets their needs. A soil conservationist can help plan appropriate land uses. A forester can recommend tree species to plant based on the purpose for the plantation as well as site characteristics including soil type, soil texture, depth and drainage and annual precipitation. Site preparation before tree planting may be needed to loosen the soil for root penetration, to control unwanted vegetation, to conserve soil moisture or to prevent unnecessary soil erosion. In fields that have a permanent cover, it's usually necessary to remove part or all of the vegetation before planting trees because this vegetation competes for soil moisture and nutrients and may harbor damaging rodents or insects. It may be appropriate to plow and disc the entire field or at least strips where trees will be planted. An alternative is to kill the vegetation with an approved herbicide. A herbicide is especially convenient for killing strips or spots of vegetation where trees will be planted while leaving some vegetation between tree rows to reduce soil erosion. Plowing or disking may be needed in combination with a herbicide. Fields subject to erosion may need a partial cover crop to reduce erosion since small trees offer little soil protection. Ideally, this cover crop should be planted between tree rows with vegetation controlled around the trees in strips or spots. Contact a forester, soil conservationist or extension agent for a list of recommended cover crops. Fields where row crops have been harvested but which are mostly bare when trees are planted may require no site preparation. However, tree planting may have to be delayed a year if there's a herbicide carryover that could damage newly planted trees. If there's a hard pan in the soil, it should be broken up by deep chiseling before planting trees. In the western plains, some fields should be summer fallowed one year prior to tree planting to build up soil moisture necessary for tree survival. There are several types of tree planting stock including bare root seedlings, containerized seedlings, cuttings and seed. Each is suited to a different situation. Most tree plantations are established with bare root seedlings. They're generally inexpensive, easy to plant and usually survive well when planted in early spring when there's good soil moisture. Containerized seedlings may produce higher survival and faster seedling growth but are more cumbersome to handle and are more expensive than bare root seedlings. Containerized seedlings may be available in several types of containers. Some containers must be removed before planting seedlings whereas other containers are biodegradable and are planted in the soil along with the tree seedling. Cuttings are sections of the stem from one year old shoots. Cuttings are usually about a half inch in diameter and 10 inches long. They're collected and planted during the dormant season. They're planted upright in the soil with just an inch of the cutting above ground. There must be good soil moisture for several weeks after planting in order for roots to form on the cuttings. On drier sites it may be appropriate to plant rooted cuttings. Cuttings are most commonly used to regenerate selected hybrid poplar or cottonwood trees that have desirable characteristics such as fast growth and disease resistance. It is possible to establish some tree plantations from seed but direct seeding is rarely practiced on agricultural sites. The soil surface is usually too hot and dry for seed germination and seedling survival and rodent or bird damage may be severe. Black walnut is sometimes planted from seed because the seed is less expensive than seedlings but tree establishment is usually less reliable than from planting seedlings. Tree planting stock is usually available from your state forestry agency, soil and water conservation district or private nurseries. Tree planting stock should come from a source known to survive and grow well in your area. Stock that originates more than about 200 miles north or south of your location may not be adapted to the climate in your area even though it's the species you desire. Planting stock distribution systems differ among suppliers. Bare root seedlings and cuttings may be sent by mail or by private carrier or distributed from a central location. Containerized seedlings are usually distributed from a central location because of the high cost of shipping to individual addresses. During transport seedlings should be covered to avoid exposure to the drying effects of wind and sun. Upon arrival seedling should be examined to determine if they're healthy. Buds should be dormant, stems flexible and roots fibrous and moist. There should be no sign of damaging insects or diseases on the leaves, stems or roots. It may be advisable to order 5% more planting stock that is needed in order to be able to discard poorer quality stock and plant only the best. For highest survival, plant trees as soon as they arrive. If immediate planting is not possible, bare root seedlings can be stored for a few days in a cool, dark moist environment such as a cellar or refrigerator. For longer term storage, dig a trench in the soil in a shady location. Spread the seedlings out in the trench, cover their roots with soil and firm the soil around the roots, then water the seedlings. They must be transplanted to your field, however, while still dormant. Containerized seedlings can be stored for several weeks if necessary in a cool, shady location. Water them as needed, plant them while still dormant if possible. Roots that are too long to fit into the planting hole without bending should be pruned off with a sharp tool just before planting or the hole should be enlarged. Bent or twisted roots may strangle and kill the tree in a few years. During the planting process, seedling roots should be kept moist by covering the roots with water, sphagnum moss, or a wet cloth. Seedlings should be planted slightly deeper than they were in the nursery. Look for the root collar, a slight swelling on the stem, to identify the point that represents the soil line in the nursery bed. Plant seedlings only in moist soil and pack soil firmly around the roots to avoid air pockets that will allow the roots to dry out. Trees can be hand-planted with a planting bar, shovel, or tractor-mounted auger. To use a planting bar, insert the bar into the soil, move the handle back and forth to open a slit, remove the bar, and insert the tree roots. Be sure the roots are not bent upward or twisted. Insert the bar about two inches behind the first slit and move the handle back and forth to close the first slit. Remove the planting bar and push dirt into the second slit with your heel. A shovel can be used in the same manner as with a shovel planting bar, but a shovel is not as well suited for use in soil with rocks or large roots. A tractor-mounted auger can be used to dig planting holes. The auger is slow, but provides a large hole to accommodate the entire root system. Loose soil is easy to pack around the roots, eliminating air pockets, but still allowing rainfall to infiltrate the soil. In heavy wet soils, an auger may slick the sides of the hole and create an artificial pot that will be difficult for roots to penetrate. In such soils, break up the slick sides of the planting hole with a shovel. Although hand-planting permits careful control over the location and planting of each tree, it's a slow process and may not be economical for large plantations. A tree-planting machine will greatly increase planting speed and, when done carefully, can result in excellent tree survival. Tree-planting machines are either mounted on the three-point hitch behind a tractor or towed. They usually consist of a colter that breaks the soil surface, a V-shaped blade that digs a continuous trench into which seedlings are placed and a set of packing wheels that firm soil around the seedlings. A box mounted on top of the machine holds seedlings and a seed is provided for the person placing the seedlings into the planting trench. It may be necessary to have a person walk behind the planting machine to straighten or replant seedlings that were not planted correctly. A machine and crew can plant approximately 5,000 to 10,000 seedlings in an eight-hour day compared to 1,000 seedlings per day by hand-planting. Tree-planting machines and planting bars may be available for rent or loan from your state forestry agency or soil and water conservation district. Tree-planting contractors may also be available. Weed control around newly planted trees may be necessary to reduce competition for sunlight, water, and nutrients. Either herbicides or cultivation may be appropriate. Consult a forester for advice concerning weed control. Herbicides and cultivation equipment can damage tree seedlings if they're not used carefully. Weed control, if recommended, should continue for one to five years or until the tree crowns close and suppress weed growth with their shade. Contractors may be available to cultivate or apply herbicides. Fertilizer is rarely used on tree platines because of its high cost. Fertilizer may be appropriate where an essential soil nutrient is in short supply. Especially in nut orchards or fuel-wood plantations. Irrigation is often used in the arid western plains to establish field windbreaks and farm-stead shelter belts. Flood, drip, and hand irrigation systems have been used successfully, but any method that delivers water to the trees will help ensure higher survival and faster seedling growth. Where moisture conservation is important, but irrigation is not feasible, mulch should be placed around the trees immediately after planting. Trees are subject to damage from insects, diseases, animals, fire, chemicals, and weather. Plantations should be inspected monthly during the growing season and once during the dormant season to detect any significant damage to leaves, bark, or root systems. If you find damage but cannot identify the cause or do not know how to control it, contact a forester for assistance. It's usually easier to prevent damage than to cure it. Exclude livestock from your plantation because large animals can compact the soil and may browse or break branches in the trees. Maintain a fire break around your plantation. Use herbicides with great caution. Avoid breaking tree branches or wounding the bark. Maintain fast tree growth by controlling weeds and or irrigating as needed. Contact a forester, soil conservationist, or extension agent for information concerning tree planting. They can advise you or refer you to an experienced professional who can design a tree planting, recommend site preparation, weed control, or irrigation, identify pests and their control measures, point out sources of tree seedlings, tree planting equipment, contractors, and possible sources of financial aid for tree planting. Cost sharing for tree plantings designed for soil conservation or timber production may be available from the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service or local soil and water conservation district. Cost sharing often pays 50% or more of establishment costs. When tree plantings are carefully designed, planted with care, and well maintained, they can be a valuable part of your farm conservation plan. Hi, I'm Hugh Pence with the Halderman Farm Management Service, a professional farm manager. I'm staying out here on a farm I own in Southeastern Tibica New County, and here's a little story about the history and development of this 180-acre walnut plantation. Most of the time, farmers will clear the trees from their land before planting, but a farmer in Indiana is planting trees in his field. The farmer is Hugh Pence, and he's mixing corn and walnuts. We're standing out here in a field of corn and walnut trees. Southeast of Lafayette, Indiana on a Wildcat Creek farm. This is a farm that I bought three or four years ago and I've planted to walnut trees and corn. It's kind of a unique situation, and I don't think anybody else has actually planted it on this particular spacing and arrangement in that we have six rows of corn and then three rows of corn left out, and then that three rows of corn is a row of walnut trees. You can see these trees here if you want to look up and down these rows here. They're three years old and doing exceptionally well. Here's a tree that I bought this spring from the state nursery. This is a very typical tree that would be available from our state nursery or probably from most any state nursery in the Midwest. It's a one-year-old seedling. Behind here would be a tree that's, I can't tell if it's a replanted part of the east where this is a two-year-old. Most likely it is. Here's a tree back here. It's now three years old. When you buy walnut trees, you actually have two choices. One would be from the state nursery, or second choice would be to buy one from a private source that has some so-called improved walnuts. In my case, since I wanted to plant so many of them, I planted a tree every five foot here. I chose to buy them from the state nursery, plant them thick, and then select out the best ones as time goes on. A tree from a private source costs about 20 times what a tree costs from the state nursery. They're probably a good buy if you want to do it in a small area. In my case, doing 124 acres of trees, I don't think I could have afforded it. And I think the selection process may work out just as well. I had a spatial interest in growing walnut trees, and it got serious about the subject about three or four years ago. I bought this particular farm because the soils are ideally suited to growing walnut trees. Walnut tree likes the spot that's not too wet and not too dry, and it has to have good water-holding capacity, but it also has to have a decent water table and certainly no subsoil hard can of any kind. Coming from a farming background of corn and beans, I decided that there needed to be a better way to grow walnut trees and not have a check until four or 50 years down the road. So I've come up with this scheme here where we can grow corn, I think for five or six years, maybe switch the beans and wheat at some point in time, grow orchard grass, red clover hay between these walnut trees. In a typical walnut plantation, on a 9-to-9, 10-to-10, or 12-to-12 spacing, you basically plant the trees and nothing else grows there except trees until the time they're harvested. The process of growing walnuts is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, but for Hugh Pence in Indiana, it's a process that's worth the work and the wait. An ideal walnut tree, if you want to know what an ideal walnut tree should be, they're about like picking out women, every one of them is different, but an ideal walnut tree, of course, is straight. He's got a very dominant leader up here, so he's got very little side branching at the top, so he's going to have a straight growth. You'd like for him to have a fairly small limb, not a big limb coming off the tree, and then you'd like the branches to come off as close to a 90-degree angle as possible. That's far better than having a branch come off at a 30 or 45-degree angle. So this particular tree here, as we walk around, is probably the best tree I've seen here. And remember that first time we saw about a quarter of an inch in diameter. This tree here now is probably an inch and three-quarters, an inch and a half in diameter, just a little over two and a half years old. So you consider that an excellent walnut tree right there. This would be a model of what you'd expect a good tree to be. I guess walking through here, maybe one or two percent of these trees have had the top blown out of them. But that's a real fast, lush growth situation. You get a 40 or 50-mile-an-hour wind one time and that's what happens. No doubt it probably happens on your best tree. We're up in an area now that's a little bit of a slope. It's probably not the best walnut soil. These are trees we're planting at the same time as the other trees you've been seeing. Obviously they're not as big. They haven't done as well. They're probably a little more typical of what you would expect a walnut tree to do out in a different kind of a planting. There was an alfalfa strip across this slope here. We planted the walnut trees right into the alfalfa and they may have a little bit of competition from that alfalfa. A forester would plant this tree. He would try to control the weeds around it. He probably wouldn't fertilize it. He'd just turn them over to Mother Nature and hope for the best. He'd take good care of them, of course, but I think growing the walnut trees in the corn with the extra fertility is going to make a big difference in the amount of growth they'll make over the coming years. There's hazards to all farming operations for growing walnut trees. One of the big hazards I've had has been deer. Here's a typical terminal bud that a deer has nipped the top off of and caused this tree to have to put out some kind of different branching, and this will require some spatial trimming as time goes on to correct that error. The other hazard growing this many trees in one location can also be disease problems. To date I don't know of any problems I have with disease in these walnut trees, but I suppose one should anticipate that could be a problem by having a concentration in one area like this plantation will be. These deer are eating the top out of every one of these red. They just love red oak. And finally, some year that red oak will put a five-foot sprout out all in one year. Well, I'll see you guys later. And for sure well. We'll see more of you guys tomorrow as we continue to look at the unique process of mixing crops and trees. What's good for the corn is good for the walnut tree. It's not an adage you're used to hearing, but it's one that you pence is betting the farm on. Today we look at how the inputs for one crop help ensure the success of another. Coming from a basically agronomic background instead of a forestry background, I could put the two things together here that certain chemicals are compatible with both walnuts and corn. And in this case here, we've used atrazine and princep as our main weed control. This is a very satisfactory combination both for walnut trees and corn. I've also put a little 2-4-D in here to kill some broadleaves. And we've had maybe a little bit of damage on the walnut trees, but basically it's done a real good job. Fertility wise, I'm fertilizing the corn for about 150 bushel yield. And here again this amount of fertility. In this case we've got about 170 pounds and about 70 pounds of phosphate and 150 pounds of potash on this corn to the acre. These walnut trees are beneficiaries as secondary feeders no less on this fertility program. And as we might look some other places on the farm, the trees that are growing in the corn rows are doing quite a bit better than the trees that are not in the corn rows. And I'm pretty sure that's attributable to the nitrogen and the extra fertility in this area of where the trees and the walnuts are mixed together. The other benefit here that would be obvious to most any farmer, and I have to apologize for mother nature here. This corn hasn't had a drink in about five or six weeks. So it's not the best looking corn at this time of its life. Hopefully a rain will come this week. But the nice thing about this project is that we have an outside row effect here while these walnut trees are small. And we know that the outside row of corn yields at least 20% or 30% better than a regular inside row. And no doubt this second row here probably yields maybe 10% or 15% better than the middle of a corn field. So I've had the benefit here of even though I've given up three rows of corn, I haven't lost that totally because the outside row effect here has helped the overall yield of this field at least for the first two years. This soil type here is probably about 125 or 130 bushel average yield. The last two years it's made about 160 or 165. That's just the area that's in corn, of course. This year the way the corn looks, I wouldn't want to guess what it's going to make, but I already know it's not going to make 160 bushel at the acre. That's why it's been through the last two or three weeks. So as the walnut trees get bigger at some point in time they will start to compete with this corn. I don't know what time that's going to be. I am impressed right now with this season that this row here next to these walnut trees at year three is not stressed any more than the rest of the corn field. So I'm fairly confident right now that the walnut trees are not pulling any moisture yet from the first row on each side of them. And we'll see more of Hue Pins tomorrow as we continue to look at the unique process of mixing crops and trees. It's the work of a lifetime bringing the walnut up from a seedling to a shade tree. It's a task Hue Pins believes in to be worthwhile now and for the future. I planted 44,000 trees here. They're on one every five feet and in the end analysis when the trees are fully mature there will be a tree here about one every 25 feet. That will be the final spacing. So since I have 22 and a half feet between rows there will be a tree about an average spacing of about 22 and a half by 25 feet. While we're looking over this part of one field here it will give you an idea of the arrangement of 22 and a half foot between the rows and six rows of corn. The long time goal of this would be to raise veneer logs. An intermediate goal may be harvesting walnuts as a nut crop. If we're growing these trees for nut production we'd want to make a nine foot log and then thin the trees earlier and let them have a bigger top because it takes a large crown to make a tree that can produce a lot of nuts. Most farm boys that ever picked up walnuts know that the big tree that puts out the most nuts is on the edge of the pasture field not out in the middle of the woods. So you've got to have a big crown. Now if you're going to grow them for veneer trees then you'll want to trim this tree up and hopefully make about a 17 foot clear log with no side branches on it. Straight of course if possible and at that point you let the tree go on and do its own branching from that point on. This means that somewhere down the road the next 10 to 15 years that these 124 acres of walnut trees are going to demand a lot of trimming and I would anticipate trimming about half the farm every year or every other year trimming these trees probably for the next 10 or 15 years. Part of that trimming process will of course be a thinning process and that will be selecting that best tree in every 25 to 30 foot area that's going to be your final harvest tree whether it's going to be growing nuts or producing a veneer log. As I stand here in front of this nice three year old walnut tree I'm reminded why young people don't plant trees, parvates their perspective on life of course but the main reason is they don't plant trees is because the cap involved in the prospects of a return as far down the road have to have some age on you before you start thinking about those things. I don't know how long it'll take this tree to mature I suppose that the earliest I can sell any trees out of here would be about 40 years. We maybe sell some nuts in 10 years or so. It'll be a nice legacy for my family. I hope they like trees. And we thank videographer Tim Hanlon for his work in producing this week's Farmer Spotlight Series.