Usher Land and Timber
A Story from the LandCoexisting Systems: Cows, Calves and Timber Working Together
Florida’s Usher Land and Timber––a family-owned silvopasture operation–– grows six tons per acre of timber annually on 6800 acres, alongside cattle, and sorghum and hay for feed, on the remaining acreage. This unique, high-intensity ranch also provides forage services to other cattle farmers such as nontraditional forages, grazing cattle under pine trees for shelter and forage during winter that helps raise cattle weight before sale. They also work with other forest owners who need experienced, environmentally conscious logging crews to manage their woodlands.
These foresters and ranchers view themselves as primary producers of not wood or beef, but “food, oxygen, and water” ––the three necessities of life. With a holistic, diverse operation that integrates the multiple services landscapes can provide, the Usher-Griners seek to use best practices to filter air and water while sequestering carbon dioxide and providing wildlife habitat.
SfL Pathways: GHG reduction, carbon sequestration, integrated and diverse crop-livestock system, adaptation and resilience, soil health, water management, recycle animal wastes, livelihoods
Addressing SDGs: decent work and economic growth, climate action, life on land
Watch Usher Land and Timber at Work
Our Vision
An Agricultural Renaissance, led by innovative and entrepreneurial farmers, ranchers and foresters constructing sustainable, profitable and resilient systems that lay the foundation for a world of abundance on many scales capable of producing nutritious food, feed, fiber, clean energy, healthy ecosystems, quality livelihoods, and strong rural economies.
