Publications about trees for shelter, conservation & profit
Written by Rowan Reid
This page will provide links to some of Rowan's books, research papers, conference presentations and articles. Most are available as free downloads and you are welcome to distribute them freely but we ask that you please acknowledge the authors and publishers. If you wish to reprint any please contact Rowan before proceeding.
Heartwood: The art and science of growing trees for conservation and profitby Rowan Reid (2017)
Bambra Agroforestry Farm Booklet - free download.
Other Books
Since Agroforestry In Australia and New Zealand was first published in 1985 Rowan has co-authored another 5 books on agroforestry and farm trees. Some are available as free downloads, others can be purchased directly (see For Sale page)
Agroforestry for Natural Resource Management
Agroforestry for Natural Resource Management - Edited by Ian Nuberg, Brendon George and Rowan Reid. CSIRO Publishing.
Click on Cover for a free preview of book
The Farmers Forest: Multipurpose Forestry on Australian Farms - free download
The Farmer's Forest is the manual of the Australian Master TreeGrower Program. The book is out of print but the full text is available online
Written in 2001 by Rowan Reid and Peter Stephen the book is provided to participants at the start of each course.
All chapters from 'The Farmers Forest' are provided below for download as pdf files.
CHAPTER 1: Agroforestry and Farm Forestry: It's about farmers growing forests of course!
CHAPTER 2: Integrating farm forestry into your farm
CHAPTER 3: CASE STUDY, Rowan's Story: Bambra Agroforestry Farm
CHAPTER 4: Markets for farm forestry products and services
CHAPTER 5: Tree and forest measurement
CHAPTER 6: Measurement of a Teak plantation (NT)
CHAPTER 7: The art of farm silviculture
CHAPTER 8: CASE STUDY, David's Story: Jenkin's Agroforestry Developments
CHAPTER 9: Economics and farm forestry
CHAPTER 10: CASE STUDY, Pete's Story: Of using, abusing and then ignoring the economics
CHAPTER 11: Farmers doing on-farm research
CHAPTER 13: About the Australian Master TreeGrower Program
Design Principles for Farm Forestry - Free download
A guide to assist farmers to decide where to place trees and farm plantations on farms
Written Colaboratively by: Nick Abel, Jenny Baxter, ALex Campbell, Helen Cleugh, John Fargher, Robert Lambeck, ROslyn Prinsley, Miles Prosser, ROwan Reid, Grant Revell, Carmel Schmidt, Richard Stirzacker and Peter Thorburn
With the support of the Joint Venture Agroforestry Program a group of 'experts' from around Australia wrote this book. Each Chapter looks in detail at how farm trees can meet the aspirations or solve the problems commonly facing farmers. We then looked at how multipple objectives can be combined. Published in 1997 the book remains a vaulable reference for farmers and students.
You can download the chapters here.
2. Dryland salinity and waterlogging
8. Multiple benefits form agroforestry
Log-Grown Shiitake Mushrooms - an Australian grower's manual ($5 download)
Log-Grown Shiitake Mushrooms - An Australian Growers' Manual
Currently Out of Print - Available as an electronic version from http://agroforestry.org.au/products/products.asp?_=Shop
by Parsuram Sharma-Luital and Rowan Reid
Published by The Otway Agroforestry Network, 2010 -60 Pages, Full Colour (IN PDF FORM)
Growers Manual which draws on the international literature and our own research to provide a practical guide for would-be Australian Shiitake growers. Strong emphasis on the use of Eucalypt logs.
Rowan's conference papers - free
My academic research has focused on the development and application of agroforestry extension programs, the silvicultural management of trees for high quality sawlogs and the economics of farm trees. A selection of his papers are available free.
The Australian Master TreeGrower Program : The development, delivery and evaluation of a national extension program.
I was invited to present a paper on the Australian Master TreeGrower Program to the joint confernce of the Australian and New Zealand institutes of professional foresters. This paper summaries the almost twenty years of the Australian Master TreeGrower program
Farmer Forestry - Liking the Time and Realising the Opportunity
Keynote Presentation at the Australian Forest Growers Conference in Albury, 2008
I was asked to speak about farm forestry and why it I was still committed to it despite the slow rate of planting relative to the 'success' of the investment forestry industry. The invitation got me thinking about what type of forestry we want in this country and whether farmers really had much to offer. CLICK
Rowan's Welcome to the IUFRO Extension Working Group Conference: Lorne, 2001
In this paper I welcome delegates from around the world to our extension conference in Victoria. What is agroforestry and farm forestry and why is it important to involve farmers? CLICK
Peer Group Mentors contribute to diversified, sustainable and innovative farming communities: APEN 2009
In 2005 the Otway Agroforestry Network (OAN) teamed up with the Australian Master Treegrower Program (MTG) to explore the concept of facilitating farmer-to-farmer extension. The proposal was to train, then pay, experienced local tree growers to act as peer group mentors (PGMs) who would support and assist other landholders thinking about investing in agroforestry, Landcare or forest management projects. To date, twenty landholders have acted as PGMs providing one-on-one support to more than 90 others. They have also been involved in running regional farm walks, representing the network at local meetings and contributing to regional newsletters. Paper by David Curry and Rowan Reid
Otway Agroforestry Network and the Australian Master TreeGrower Program: Writing our own history on our landscape - with trees
by Andrew Stewart and Rowan Reid
Andrew presented this paper on our behalf at the Veg Futures Conference in Toowomba in October 2008. It looks at our work at three scales: Andrew's own farm, the Otway Agroforestry Network and the Australian Master TreeGrower Program.
Ten per cent Multipurpose tree cover for every farm: a low risk, high opportunity first step
by Andrew Stewart and Rowan Reid
Andrew and I presented this paper at the Victorian Farmers Federation conference and as a poster at the International Landcare Conference in Melbourne. It looks at the agricultural basis for revegetation and argues that most farmers could, if well planned, plant out up to ten percent of their land to trees without any loss of production. If effect, the trees, and any products they produce, would be a bonus.
Rowan's Research Papers - some free
A practical guide to thinning plantations: The Diameter:Basal Area Ratio
Reid, R.(2006) Diameter-basal area ratio as a practical stand density measure for pruned plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 233: 375-382
I cannot give readers the whole paper but if you have access to the journal then you might like to look it up. I've found that the ratio of the mean tree diameter to the stand basal area is a simple, practical and sivliculturally valid guide to thinning forests especially if they are being grown for sawlogs.
Tree Change - The Australian Master TreeGrower Phenomenon - free download
Reid (2008) RIRDC Publication No. 08/129. Available as a free download CLICK Picture
24 page, full colour, booklet outlining the development, delivery and the impact of the Eureka Award winning Australian Master TreeGrower Program. A useful guide to those working in agricultural extension of community development.
Magazine articles
I've written hundreds of articles in farmer magazines including Australian Agroforestry, Town and Country Farmer, Australian Forest Grower and The Australian Farm Journal. Most are very practical covering aspects of species selection, plantation design, establish, management and harvesting. Others are reflective pieces exploring what it means to grow trees. A selection are available as free downloads and will be added to this site.
The Principles and Practice of Pruning, Published in Australian Forest Grower Winter 2001 (12 pages)
In this paper I review the biology and practice of pruning trees for high quality timber production. There is an empahsis on pruning eucalypts but the paper also refers to many other tree species.
Silvicultural management of Australian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxyon)
A paper I presented at the Blackwood Working GRoup Meeting. Covers the spacing and competition issues in Blackwood plantation and proposes a spacing plan to guide thinning