The Agroforestry Podcast

After decades of trial and error, cultivar test orchards, and local breeding efforts, chestnuts are about to take a big leap towards becoming more regionally adapted and rooted in productive agroforestry systems across their range. The Chestnut Improvement Network is a participatory breeding program led by Dr. Ron Revord, tree crop geneticist at the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry, with key producer partners, including Dr. Greg Miller, chestnut grower and tree geneticist at the Route 9 Cooperative. Native Land Map: https://native-land.ca/

Trees and pigs may seem an unlikely combination, but in fact, hog silvopasture has been practiced for thousands of years, and is only recently making a comeback in the US. In this episode, two practitioners share their insights about raising hogs under trees. During the last in-person Perennial Farm Gathering, hosted by the Savanna Institute, we talked with Dayna Burtness of Nettle Valley Farm, and recorded a presentation from Eliza Greenman of HogTree. Dr. Ashley Conway is our guest host to offer some context within the world of silvopasture history, management, and risks.

In this episode, we inoculate a deeper understanding of how fungi can play an important role on farms with trees, both as a valuable crop and as a source of ecological revitalization. Steve Gabriel from the Cornell Small Farms Program and Wellspring Forest Farm, and Nicola MacPherson from Ozark Forest Mushrooms share their insights and experience working with shiitake mushrooms.

Secure and affordable long-term land access can be a major barrier for beginning farmers planning agroforestry endeavors. In this episode, we'll hear from a few people who support solutions to this challenge: Keefe Keeley, co-executive director of the Savanna Institute; Joe Klingelhutz, farm specialist with the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust; and Emily Wright, farmer and president of the board of directors for the Greenbelt Land Trust of Mid-Missouri. Theme music provided by Noah Earle - “Cake and Ice Cream” Interstitial music: Podington Bear - “Memory Wind”, “Pink Gradient” (CC BY-NC 3.0) Lobo Loco - “Like JJ” (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Dr. Turtle - “Database of Problems, Rolodex of Lies” (CC BY 4.0)

We close the first season of the Agroforestry Podcast with an episode intended to steer your budding tree crop ideas into grounded reality.  Larry Godsey, Associate Professor of Agribusiness at Missouri Valley College and former agroforestry economist with the Center for Agroforestry, shares his insightful perspective about economics in the context of long-term harvests and ecosystem services associated with perennial farming.  And while economics isn't all about finances, it's an important part of the equation; Paul Dietmann, Senior Lending Officer of Mission Finances at Compeer Financial and co-author of Fearless Farm Finances, offers an insider perspective on financing for beginning farmers interested in planting trees. You can find more information to help you get started with profitability projections and decision-making tools at www.CenterforAgroforestry.org/profit.

Urban agroforestry is more than the marriage of city farms and community forestry; there are many ways multi-story perennial food systems can take shape in these spaces.  In this episode, we hear from Sarah Lovell, Director of the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry; Cathy Bukowski, PhD Candidate at Virginia Tech and author of a book on community food forests; and Matt Lebon, owner and operator of Custom Foodscaping in St.Louis. Each shares their perspective on urban applications of agroforestry, from permaculture design and edible landscaping, to food forests and urban farm conservation. 

Pawpaw has big potential as a specialty crop with conservation value.  In this episode, learn about the plant's biology, propagation, and promising cultivars from Patrick Byers, University of Missouri Extension; and about technical and financial support for agroforestry plantings like pawpaw from Lauren Cartwright, Missouri's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Silvopasture, the integration of trees with animals and forage, is a promising approach that can yield many benefits.  In this episode, we'll hear from Ashley Conway, the Center for Agroforestry's silvopasture research faculty, Dusty Walter, MU's Wurdack Research Center superintendent, and Greg Judy, a practitioner who's found success with silvopasture at Green Pastures Farm.  Each guest offers insights about what we know, what we need to know, and how we can connect for the advancement of this complex practice.

  This episode features Dr. Leo Sharashkin's seminar from the  Agroforestry Academy, the Center for Agroforestry's annual intensive training program.  Leo collects wild swarms of honeybees and keeps them in “horizontal”, or Layens, hives to harvest forest honey that is free of agrichemicals and other contaminants.  This special episode offers a deep dive into the world of keeping small bee livestock as part of a forest farming operation.

This episode features Dr. Michael Gold, Interim Director of the Center for Agroforestry, and Red Fern Farm's Kathy Dice and Tom Wahl.  Often planted and maintained for their conservation value, trees on farms can also be an integral part of a farm's crop production. With diversity comes resilience and complexity: hear both academic research and on-the-ground farmer perspectives about the why, what, how, and when of perennial tree crops.

Native plants are gaining attention in agriculture, landscaping, and wild places, in part due to growing concern about competitive invasive plants, and the importance of preserving diversity for ecosystem health. Many of these native perennial plants can also be ideal in agroforestry systems for their varied and valuable products. During the the Center for Agroforestry's intensive training Academy, Nadia Navarrete-Tindall, native plant expert and consultant, and Terry Durham, champion grower and organizer for American elderberry, shared their knowledge about and passion for native plants. Registration for the Agroforestry Academy is now open.

We've been sharing voices from the forest farming community this spring, and while there are MANY non-timber forest products that can be responsibly harvested for food, fiber, medicine, and art, American Ginseng, or Panax quinquefolius stands out; it is highly sought-after, for its economic and cultural value. In this episode, voices from the field share about the complexities of growing ginseng for conservation and for profit.   Check the Center for Agroforestry's social media sites to enter to win a copy of Jeanine Davis' and Scott Persons' book “Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal, and Other Woodland Medicinals”! Entries accepted until May 15th, 2019. Facebook Twitter

In this episode, forest farming experts Jeanine Davis and Eric Burkhart share the fundamentals of forest farming, from site selection to medicinal plant cultivation. You can explore more from the Appalachian Beginning Forest Farmer Coalition, the Virginia Tech Root Report, and the forest farming eXtension resources.

What IS agroforestry, and why does it matter? Agroforestry professionals share their perspectives about how agroforestry can help us come together for ecological, social, and economic resilience.  On this episode, we hear from: Dr. Mike Gold, Interim Director of the Center for Agroforestry; Keefe Keeley, Co-Executive Director of the Savanna Institute; Dr. Sarah Taylor Lovell who leads the Multifunctional Landscape project and is the Center for Agroforestry's incoming Director; Dr. John Munsell, a Forest Management Specialist at Virginia Tech; and Kate MacFarland, Agroforester at the National Agroforestry Center.