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GREEN FARMSTEAD PARTNER
SECTION 02
DETERMINE YOUR GOALS Get the most out of your vegetative buffers. Your goals can address a number of issues that will not only enhance neighborhood relations but also make your site more functional, efficient, a better place to raise your livestock and a better place to work. See page 31 for a worksheet to help you list your goals and site inventory. Some goals that vegetative buffers can address are:
ANIMAL HEALTH A well-designed landscape will contribute to the overall health of the livestock by keeping them cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
ODOR REDUCTION Vegetative buffers can help change wind patterns to redirect odors higher in the air for better dilution and can create dead air pockets so the particles can drop to the ground or onto the plant material.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY Often livestock barns are located on an open landscape away from residences. Because of this, harsh winter winds can have a huge impact on the comfort for the people who work there and the livestock they are caring for. Windbreaks will block those harsh winds. In an ideal situation well-designed windbreaks can reduce energy costs by as much as 25 percent.
NRCS: WINDBREAK/SHELTERBELT ESTABLISHMENT
