The University of Missouri Wurdack Farm Agricultural Research Station will hold a Tree Mulching Demonstration on Tues., June 30t from 9 am to noon.  This demonstration will be conducted as part of the site preparation for the Pine Restoration and Silvopasture Enterprise Research Project at Wurdack Farm, near Cook Station, MO.  This research project has been designed to characterize the tree/forage/livestock interactions and economic opportunities associated with a short-leaf pine and warm-season grass silvopasture practice on south facing Ozark sites.
To prepare the site for the project, MU Agroforesty researchers and Wurdack Farm have enlisted the services of a Fecon tree mulcher.  The Fecon FTX440 is a 440 horsepower tracked crawler with a mulcher head designed to clear unwanted, poor quality timber and refuse from the site.  Although a timber harvest was conducted on the site last year, there remains a significant amount of unwanted material such as tops, stumps, and undesirable trees.
According to Dusty Walter, project leader with the MU Center for Agroforestry, “logging jobs typically leave a good deal of material on a site following their activities, and the Fecon Mulcher is being used to expedite the site clearing process and hopefully start with a clean site on which the pine and grass may be established”.
This event will provide attendees an opportunity to learn more about forestry and silvopasture practices suited for the Ozarks as well as view the operations of the Fecon tree mulcher.  For additional information or to attend the event please contact Will McClain at the Crawford  County Extension Office at 573-775-2135 or Dusty Walter with the MU Center for Agroforesty  at 573-884-7991.