Agroforestry education using the collective experience of pioneer farmers

Animal Production: grazing management, grazing - multispecies, grazing - rotational
Crop Production: agroforestry, alley cropping, forest farming, intercropping, pollinator habitat, silvopasture, windbreaks
Production Systems: agroecosystems, holistic management, integrated crop and livestock systems, permaculture

Abstract:

Agroforestry is a sustainable agricultural paradigm that integrates trees with crops and/or livestock. Agroforestry practices can be highly profitable while simultaneously restoring critical ecosystem services degraded by conventional agriculture. Although agroforestry has not yet been widely adopted across the North-Central Region, a collection of pioneer farmers established their farms decades ago, well ahead of the curve. Collectively, these pioneers host a wealth of knowledge gained through experience - both success and failure.

These pioneers are dispersed across the North Central Region, making it difficult for beginning farmers to learn from them in person. Furthermore, the pioneers often traverse different networks and markets than beginning farmers. Thus, the collective experience of these pioneers has been underutilized in educating beginning agroforestry farmers.

In this project, the Savanna Institute partnered with six pioneer agroforestry farmers to document, synthesize, and disseminate over 183 years of collective experience via: online interactive discussions, virtual farm tours, podcast interviews, on-farm field days, and creative infographics of agroforestry concepts. This range of methods maximizes the educational impact across the diverse ages, backgrounds, and learning styles of beginning farmers. The resulting educational materials are priceless tools in facilitating beginning agroforestry farms in the North-Central Region.

Project objectives:

Host 24 online interactive discussions between beginning and pioneer farmers
Create a virtual farm tour for each of the 6 pioneer farms
Compile a podcast interview of each of the 6 pioneers
Host 6 on-farm field days at pioneer farms
Synthesize abstract agroforestry concepts into creative infographics that merge scientific knowledge with farmer experience
Disseminate educational materials to over 4,500 perennial farmers via SavannaInstitute.org, PerennialMap.org, and existing agroforestry education programs

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.