A few posts back I wrote about riparian forest buffers (RFB), and in retrospect I feel certain I overstated a concern. It is true that RFBs become wildlife cover, and some of that wildlife will be of a sort that might get into crops. However, I've realized that this is true of any patch of woods on a farm. Windbreaks, living barns, silvopasture, and so forth all provide shelter for potential pests. They also function as part of a living ecosystem and bring more positives than negatives to farmland. And, as I noted in that earlier post, hunting leases can provide a very modest extra source of revenue while keeping the wildlife under some control.
Here's a video showing off an RFB that was created with a grant from Patagonia Burlington. It gives a good idea of what this agroforestry practice is about.
