Midwest Agroforestry for Community Education

Commodities

• Fruits: other

Practices

• Crop Production: agroforestry

For over a century, agricultural professionals, including those from the Cooperative Extension Service, have provided guidance on agroforestry and perennial cropping systems in rural areas. Farming in metro areas has grown substantially in recent years, yet there is little training for these professionals in adapting practices to this unique setting.

A group of educators from University of Illinois Extension, Chicago; University of Wisconsin Extension, Milwaukee; Michigan State University Extension, Detroit; and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI), Wisconsin have formed a Midwest Metro Agroforestry Community of Practice (CoP), a workgroup with a shared area of interest that meets regularly to build knowledge and skills, and share best practices.

Through this project, Agroforestry for Community Education (MACE), this CoP will collaboratively train additional educators, giving them the knowledge and technical skills needed to assist metro producers in implementing this sustainable practice.

The Midwest Metro Agroforestry CoP members will attend University of Missouri's 2027 Agroforestry Training Academy, to deepen their knowledge and build relationships and technical skills required to meet the unique needs of Midwest metro farmers. This group will then create professional development learning opportunities for ag professionals, including field days, field visits, and experiential workshops; digital and print agroforestry resources; and trials at UW Extension's Milwaukee Demonstration Farms, Chicago agroforestry sites, and MSU's metro-area agroforestry sites. Ag professionals will also gain capacity to meet this growing demand through connections with Savanna Institute, NeighborSpace, and Detroit's Giving Grove, partner organizations that demonstrate local solutions for advancing agroforestry in metro spaces.

Outputs include:

• 36 project leadership team meetings.
• 18 Midwest Metro Agroforestry Community of Practice meetings.
• A Midwest Metro Agroforestry Community of Practice of 500 members by the end of the project.
• 4-8 leadership team members trained through the MU Agroforestry Academy.
• Feedback provided to MU on their Agroforestry Academy and resources on the applicability to metro systems.
• Nine in-person half or full-day metro agroforestry educator training courses (field days, workshops, etc.) (held in 2027 and 2028 in Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee) that train 135 unique agricultural professionals.
• Six farmer trainers assist with program and resource creation each year.
• Nine virtual one-hour agroforestry educator training courses (hosted online) that are accessed by 135 unique agricultural professionals from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan.
• Nine metro agroforestry fact sheets and one resource guide developed and distributed to 270 participants.
• Six unique "trials" (2027, 2028, and 2029 in Wisconsin and Michigan) that will help inform educators of successful metro agroforestry practices.
• Six stakeholder meetings (held in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan in 2028 and 2029) attended by 15 attendees, including 5 agricultural professionals, each.
• Evaluation surveys to assess in-person and virtual program delivery outcomes and for project improvement.