Agroforestry is an operation where landowners manage trees, shrubs, forages, grasses, crops or livestock in an innovative, flexible system tailored to a farmer’s specific needs. The goals are to optimize production, discover or develop markets and enhance environmental benefits.

Agroforestry helps farmers diversify – products and income. Trees that produce an annual fruit or nut crop can also be grown for a future timber harvest. Shrubs can be grown instead of, or with, trees and can produce a yearly crop. Forages and other fruit, vegetable or specialty crops can be harvested for market or grazed by livestock.

"One of the more attractive qualities of agroforestry is that of its markets," said Rich Straight, lead agroforester of the National Agroforestry Center at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. "Where livestock and crop prices seem to rise and fall in the same patterns, markets associated with agroforestry, like timber and nuts, don’t follow the common markets. They’re more stable."

Farmers can benefit substantially from agroforestry. Trees and shrubs help lower energy bills by providing shade in the summer and insulation in the winter. By protecting buildings from wind, heating bills can be reduced by nearly 30 percent. Noise from busy highways can be decreased as much as 50 percent just by planting a wall of trees in between.

Trees help with erosion control. A modest canopy can reduce runoff by at least 12 percent. Trees also improve air quality by filtering carbon dioxide and sodium dioxide.

Major agroforestry practices include windbreaks, riparian forest buffers, silvopastures, alley cropping and forest farming.

Windbreaks are used to protect livestock and crops, such as vegetables, orchards and vines. Crop windbreaks are used to control soil erosion, increase bee pollination and improve pesticide effectiveness. Livestock windbreaks reduce animal stress and death from weather conditions, reduce feed consumption and help reduce visual impact and odors.

"Probably the main benefits a windbreak can have to the average farm is the reduction of wind erosion and snow drifting," said Michael Natvig, a livestock producer and SARE grant recipient from Cresco, Iowa.

Windbreaks can be planted in single or multiple rows and be of any kind of tree or shrub. Trees and shrubs can provide additional profit through annual fruit and nut production, without reducing wind breaking effectiveness. The trees can also be grown for timber, paper pulp and floral options.

Farmers can profit with commercial nut markets. Although the U.S. imports many of its nuts, the country’s hazelnut and chestnut markets are well-organized. Farmers receive $1 to $3 per shelled pound of hazelnuts.

The chestnut market is more developed, although the Midwest climate is a challenge for chestnut trees. Prices fluctuate according to international trade but seem to follow hazelnuts. Both hazelnuts and chestnuts produce between 750 and 5,000 pounds per acre.

Many farmers plant nut trees that also double as a timber crop. Timber markets fluctuate with drought but can reward producers with $200 to $400 per 1,000 board feet. Black walnut and white oak can bring up to $1,000 per 1,000 board feet.

Considerations in establishing windbreaks include selection of trees by height, density and length of life. Windbreaks take up land, cost money and can be labor-intensive. Farmers need to plant new trees to fill in gaps left by tree harvest, damage or death. Pruning dense areas may be required.

Natvig planted his windbreak in 1995 to protect beef cattle and hogs. He chose hazelnut trees to provide an annual cash crop. Natvig suggested contacting the National Arbor Day Foundation to find plant breeders with a variety resistant to European Blight.

"I decided on hazelnuts because they’re native and well-adapted to this area," said Natvig. "They do really well in the Upper Midwest."

Natvig reported his hazelnuts to be hardy, despite last year’s severe winter. When there’s enough to sell, he plans to take them to a farmer’s market.

Riparian forest buffers consist of trees, shrubs and forages planted in areas close to waterways. The trees and shrubs may also be grown for timber, fruits or nuts. The grass can be used for baled forage or for grazing.

In 1996, the U.S. government began a program to increase numbers of riparian forest buffers to at least 2 million miles by 2002. States pay farmers up to $150 per acre for riparian forest buffers in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

Riparian forest buffers have a large impact on the environment. Extensive root systems help stabilize riverbanks and reduce erosion. The canopy provides shade and nutrients for improved aquatic habitat. The stream bank helps to improve water quality by buffering non-point pollution and settling sediment, pesticides and nutrients.

Many challenges go along with planting and maintaining a riparian forest buffer. Farmers need to consider the cost of seedlings and establishment protection. Crop and rangeland can be lost to riverside trees. Maintaining healthy forests can be labor-intensive and time-consuming.

Gary Mensinger, a SARE grant recipient from Camanche, Iowa, planted white pine, white and red oak, walnut, white ash and willow for his buffer. He plans to eventually use them for timber

Silvopastures combine forest farming with forage and livestock management. The trees are raised for timber, Christmas trees, nuts or fruit. Forages, such as brome and red clover, provide income through baling. After the trees grow large enough, livestock can graze the forages.

The trees protect and provide both shade and shelter to the forages and livestock. Rotational, intensive and managed grazing systems can be effectively used to maintain high quality trees and forage. Trees can be natural or planted in rows or clusters.

Benefits include low labor and time commitments, improved forage quality through a reduced need for chemical and mechanical vegetation control, shade-induced enhanced palatability and an improved nutrient base.

Specialty markets, such as those for Christmas trees, may be difficult to find or develop.

Although his SARE project focused on weed control of red cedars, Leroy Smith, from Burke, South Dakota, has been attempting to find markets for red cedar trunk shavings and mulch. In 40 years, the trees have crowded his pasture enough to decrease his grazing to 15 cows per 360 acres.

Smith sells shavings for livestock bedding. His mulch is used in road ditches and for livestock and pet bedding. Bulk mulch brings $10 per square yard, but packaged mulch can be sold for $24.

Don Adams, producer and SARE grant recipient from Madrid, Iowa, has been experimenting with a legume-grass mix in his silvopasture. To deter deer during forage establishment, Adams built high fences but found them to be expensive and labor-intensive.

Adams plans to use his silvopasture in a rotational grazing system for his beef cattle herd. He started with native oaks and elms and has since planted walnut and hickory trees.

"Once the trees are big enough, they will become an integral part of this operation," he added.

With alley cropping, hardwood trees and shrubs are grown for timber. If these trees grow nuts or fruit, they can begin paying for themselves in three or four years after being planted. With a companion crop growing between the trees, farmers can start seeing income in the practice’s first or second year. Traditional, horticultural, medicinal and vegetable crops work well.

"The idea of a long-term crop may be tempting, but it needs some way of paying itself off until then," said Rich Straight of the National Agroforestry Center. "The annual crops of fruits or nuts helps the farmer be able to afford to keep a long-term crop like timber."

Forest farming uses existing stands of trees to grow specialty shade crops, such as ginseng, goldenseal, shiitake mushrooms, floral greenery, ornamental ferns and berries. Many of these medicinal, culinary and ornamental plants are harvested from the wild and are becoming scarce. Forest farming helps develop domestic markets and helps plants reclaim their place in the wild. The trees can be grown for timber, a riparian buffer or fruits and nuts.

"Trees and understory crops start producing six weeks earlier than corn or soybeans and continue six weeks later," said Tom Wahl, an expert agroforester and SARE grant recipient from Wapello, Iowa. "The input to output ratio is also more efficient. Corn and soybeans take 10 to 20 times more input per output. Agroforestry, on the other hand, takes much less input to produce each output.

Farmers need to open the canopy to create the correct amount of light for the specialty crops. This can be very labor- and time-intensive. Other considerations include the growth and labor requirements of the understory crop, available and developing markets and any contracts with service or seedling providers. Protection from wild animals and theft may be needed, as many products are of high value.

Wahl runs an integrated agroforestry project, where he manages trees for timber, fruit and nut harvests. Currently, he is enjoying his first years of walnut, hickory, hazelnut and chestnut production, and is looking forward to future paw paw and persimmon harvests.

Wahl and other area farmers have formed a chestnut cooperative to develop a stable local market. Today, American farmers only produce around 1 million pounds of chestnuts annually. The U.S. imports the rest from Europe. According to Wahl, U.S. producers will need to continue their current growing rate for the next 80 to 100 years just to meet the 2002 demand.

The NCR-SARE program, in partnership with the National Agroforestry Center, has funded producer grants to explore agroforestry. To learn more about these projects, contact NCR-SARE producer grant coordinator Ken Schneider at 402-472-0809 or kschneider1@unl.edu. Also contact:

• USDA Farm Service Agency Conservation Programs, Washington DC, 202-720-7809, www.fsa.usda.gov/dafp/cepd/default.htm

This year marks the 11th cycle of producer grants awarded by the program. Farmers and ranchers can apply for grants of up to $6,000 for individuals and up to $18,000 for groups of three or more interested in investigating any sustainable practice or concept. A total of $400,000 is available for grants. Additional funding specifically earmarked for agroforestry projects is also available as a result of a National Agroforestry Center initiative.

More than 380 producer projects in 12 NCR states have been awarded at a total of more than $2 million since 1992. Projects cover a variety of topics, such as reducing off-farm inputs, testing technologies, improving water quality, educating young people or consumers about agriculture, managing weeds and pests, recycling wastes and creating viable markets for sustainable products, among a host of other issues

Producers must reside in the 12-state North Central Region: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Approximately $960,000 is available for grants in 2002. Projects can be two to three years in duration, and may involve educators from one or more states.

The desired outcomes for the PDP (listed in the call for proposals) were developed through extensive surveys with program participants and stakeholders through the region. The overall desired outcome of the NCR PDP is: Educators who are knowledgeable in the general concepts of sustainable agriculture and motivated to work in partnership with farmers, ranchers and the general public on developing programs and activities that enhance the sustainability of rural communities and the food and agricultural system.

The Regional Coordinator is responsible for coordinating and facilitating a competitive research, education, and training program with an annual budget of approximately $3 million. Support staff is located at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (UNL). The Regional Coordinator may locate at UNL or fill an adjunct position from their current location.

The coordinator provides leadership for the research and education program, supervises and evaluates staff, represents and promotes the NCR program, and serves as the liaison to the national SARE office. In concert with the Administrative Council, the coordinator develops and prepares requests for grant proposals, reports, literature and other documentation. Further, this position assists applicants in submitting proposals to include procedure clarification and policy interpretation.

Interviews will be conducted in March, and finalists will meet with the Administrative Council March 26, 2002. The Interim Regional Coordinator is David Baltensperger.

To reserve the NCR-SARE display - free of charge - for your meetings, conferences or other gatherings, please contact Shannon Parry at 402-472-7081 or sparry@unl.edu. Printed promotional materials and informational bulletins are also sent with the display.

NCR-SARE also offers Speakers Bureau funds to help support the cost of sustainable agriculture speakers at meetings and events. Contact Shannon Parry at 402-472-7081 or sparry@unl.edu.

Profitable Poultry: Raising Birds on Pasture features farmer experiences plus the latest research in a new "how-to" guide to raising chickens and turkeys using pens, movable fencing and pastures.

A Kentucky family nets between 90 cents and $1.50 per pound from Louisville customers for birds raised on pasture. A New Mexico producer who rotates birds across his property year-round has seen dramatic improvements to his desert soil. And a Wyoming producer was able to quit a full-time, off-the-farm job to stay home and raise pastured poultry with help from her school-age kids.

With those examples and more from around the country, the bulletin touches on the system’s many opportunities to improve profits, environment and rural family life. With original ideas for marketing poultry products and a page of additional, expert resources, the bulletin offers a jumping-off point for new producers.