Presented by Chris Chmiel Integration Acres Ltd

1. Using Animals to Manage Pawpaw Patches presented by Chris Chmiel 160 Cherry Ridge Road Albany, OH 45710 740-698-6060 pawpaw@frognet.net www.integrationacres.com SARE farmer producer grant FNCA 00-371 Summary: Inside the cells of the pawpaw tree, in its leaves, branches, bark and fruit, are powerful compounds called Annonaceous Acetogenins. These complex lipid molecules help protect the tree from most insect pests. They also make the tree’s biomass extremely unpalatable to grazing animals. The goal of this project was to develop techniques that take advantage of this special trait. If techniques can be developed to use grazing animals to remove competing brush and at the same timeapply organic fertilizer, then production input costs can be lowered. The techniques are a low cost and low input way that may help pawpaw producers keep maintenance costs down. Animal operations that have pawpaws on the farm edges may also expand into raising pawpaws for an additional source of seasonal income. Objective: The objective of this project is to develop techniques that integrate animals into a management system for both wild pawpaw patches and pawpaw orchards. Summary: Southeast Ohio and many other regions in the eastern United States have native patches of Asimina triloba, the pawpaw, which is North America’s largest native tree fruit. These patches may have healthy, mature trees that are producing the nutritious, delicious tropical flavored pawpaw fruit. Finding these patches, assessing their fruit and fruit production, and beginning to work with these patches has provided my business with thousands of pounds of pawpaws. By working with these existing native pawpaw stands, I’ve been able to get pawpaws and pawpaw products to the market quicker and cheaper than if I had planted an orchard of cultivars and then waited for these trees to mature enough to bearfruit. By working with existing stands of pawpaws, people in my area have been able to farm pawpaws with very little upfront costs. Instead of the pawpaw fruit simply being a forest “waste” product, these pawpaws have generated income for my farm and others in the area. As people realize the potential of the pawpaw, they begin to spend more time developing their pawpaw resources. Objective: The objective of this project was to increase pawpaw fruit production in the region, especially the Ohio River Valley, by utilizing the existing stands of native pawpaws. Increasing Production in Native Stands of Pawpawspresented by Chris Chmiel 160 Cherry Ridge Road Albany, OH 45710 740-698-6060 pawpaw@frognet.net www.integrationacres.com SARE farmer producer grant MG 176-00 (FNCA 00-315) • Intended outcomes • Increase pawpaw production and the further long-term development of wild pawpaw patches into more “cultivated” patches. • Add beneficial ecological effects from the removal of many non-native invasive species such as Rosa multiflora, Lonicera japonica and Ailanthus altissima. • Provide landowners with economic opportunities to manage steep and “waste” areas on farms. • Introduce pawpaws to the masses and become a pioneer in pawpaw processing, product development and marketing. • Increase utilization of pawpaw fruit and economic activity around pawpaws to help a pawpaw industry develop and grow in southeast Ohio, making it known as the pawpaw capital of the world. • Research and/or education methods • Over 40 wild pawpaw patches were identified and worked with to increase accessibility and sunlight. • Several patches were thinned of weak or overcrowded trees to facilitate shorter, bushier tree shapes instead of the taller trees in a shaded overcrowded patch. The thinnings were made during the medicinal harvesting season for the pawpaw biomass, which also coincides with grafting season. • Patches were studied for fruit production and fruit quality. Because annual production data can be significantly skewed due to weather conditions, observations have been on more of a long-term basis. • High quality fruiting trees have been tagged and selected out for further propagation via grafted cuttings. Cuttings collected during dormant winter months are then propagated into other native pawpaw patches or orchards, improving cross pollination and overall fruit quality. • Patches were also given additional nutrients by spreading compost into the patches. Soil samples were taken and studied. • A workshop was given, featuring Neal Peterson, pawpaw breeder and founder of the Pawpaw Foundation. The workshop focused on applying the pawpaw orchard techniques to wild pawpaw patches, including pruning, grafting, fertilization, improving genetics and hand-pollination. • A brochure on the techniques developed in this study is available to interested individuals. • Significant findings • Native pawpaw patches can produce high quality pawpaw fruit in large quantities with lower start up and maintenance costs than commercial style pawpaw orchards. Native pawpaws are in many parts of the country, growing along pasture fences, forest edges and stream edges. • If wild patches are significant enough in size and health and have been made to be accessible, the additional transportation time and expense to harvest is worth it. • Designing the “pawpaw picker” and providing packing boxes and education for harvesters was essential to maximize the quality of the fruit. • Wild pawpaw genetics can produce superior flavored and quality fruit compared to known cultivars grown in commercial orchards. These genetics could be of significant value to the future of the pawpaw industry. • Economic activity generated in wild pawpaw patches helps create interest in pawpaws and, without this increased value, pawpaw trees and their fruit will remain an underutilized natural resource in parts of the country. • Intended outcomes • Grazing and browsing animals will increase accessibility with removal of thorny patches of multiflora rosa, brambles and Japanese honeysuckle. • The herd will deposit manure and urine on site in the pawpaw patches, providing a low cost organic fertilization to maximize tree health and fruit production. • Farmers have an opportunity to diversify their farms and provide an additional source of seasonal farm income. • Animal-based farms will begin to see pawpaws as a valuable asset for their farm; to work with, develop and incorporate their animals for management purposes. • Research and / or education methods • Natural observation of various local animal-based farm operations allowed examples of many different types of animals in different aged and sized pawpaw patches. • A small herd of ten young dairy calves and four dairy goats were fenced temporarily into existing wild pawpaw patches and a small developing pawpaw orchard. Temporary electric and permanent fencing techniques were explored. • Pawpaws were also planted into existing animal operations, along fence rows and in other areas that didn’t get mowed off. These areas were usually steeper parts of the farm that were dangerous to maintain or promoted too much soil erosion. • A small brochure that summarizes these ideas is available to interested landowners. • Significant findings • This is a low-cost way of maintaining pawpaw trees, but it does require additional fencing costs to get the animals into these temporary paddocks. • It is also important to have the right size grazing animal for the right size trees at the right stocking density for the appropriate amount of time. If you’re working with small trees, a smaller animal in a lighter density may be more appropriate. If the trees are larger and more developed, larger animals may be used. • It’s best to have several paddocks that can be rotated to reduce tree damaging pressure. • Since this technique works naturally, many animal-based grazing operations may have naturally occurring examples of pawpaws in a silvopastoral system, but most of the livestock owners realize little value from these pawpaw resources. • Having additional crops coming from the same space while also reducing costs is a win-win solution and creates a more sustainable and profitable farm operation. • Presented by • Chris Chmiel • Integration Acres Ltd