Financing & Economics: Choosing Long-term Rewards

Missouri tree syrup makers are connected to the forest in an intimate way, attending to late winter temperature fluctuations, noticing their trees’ health, and delighting in a sap flow that will result (with much time and care) in a sweet reward. Maples are not a preferred species in these forests, but where abundant, tapping them can yield a sustainable source of nutritious sugars. The Center for Agroforestry’s new project “Putting Maple on the Map in the Lower Midwest” highlights the important role these trees play in forest farming and ecological health. 

Dr. Benjamin Knapp is faculty manager at the University of Missouri’s Baskett Forest where we visit during the annual open house tapping event. Beth Morgan and her family at Hart|Beet Farm in Eolia, Missouri show us around their sugarbush and the ins-and-outs of their “sapinator” where they make a unique syrup for their CSA customers. 

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.