Austin Unruh occasionally laments his lack of agricultural background, but coming to farming with fresh eyes means nothing is off-limits. Austin trained as a social worker, but something drew him to agriculture, and despite growing up in the suburbs, he was determined to find his place in farming.
It's been a journey of self-education and a conscious effort to make connections in his goal to offer farmers practical solutions in his business, Trees for Graziers based in Pennsylvania in the United States.
Perhaps, subliminally, the social conscience and awareness that Austin cultivated in his social work at college is now playing out in wanting farmers to do better, both financially and mentally. 'I want to see more people live on and get their living from the land,' Austin says. 'I think there's something that comes alive when we are on the land, surrounded by nature, something that lies dormant when we're in cities and cubicles and shopping malls.'
His passion has led him to silvopasture, the practice of planting trees in grazing landscapes, which he says could help iron out some of the vagaries of working with Mother Nature. 'Silvopasture allows farmers to support more enterprises, become more resilient to crazy weather and outside economic forces, and at the most basic level, to work in landscapes that are more pleasurable,' he says.'
It can be a costly process with a delayed return on investment, and here again, those skills gained in social work kick in. He helps farmers find financial support, either through government grants or from non-profit organisations, to offset the initial investment.
He often compares silvopasture to the solar industry. 'I could go and buy solar panels right now and put them on my roof, but I'd have to learn how to install them, wire them, and I'd likely end up burning my house down,' he says. 'Plus I don't have the cash to make such a large up-front investment.
'But I can call a local company, and they can take care of all of it for me. They have professionals who do this every day, and they can likely even set me up with a program that doesn't require me to pay anything out of pocket. 'That's what we want to do for silvopasture, making it as easy and financially accessible as possible.'
