Green Horizons

Agroforestry promotes land use incorporating the "Four I's": intentional, intensive, interactive and integrated. After attending the recent 11th North American Agroforestry Conference, I would add one more "I" to that list - innovative.

I was struck by the diverse ways people across this country, continent and planet put the science of agroforestry into practice.

Mark Coggeshall, UMCA tree improvement specialist, speaks to attendees of the 11th North American Agroforestry Conference at MU’s Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center.

And that's the way it was meant to be - "Putting Science into Practice" was the theme of this biennial meet-up, hosted by the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry May 31-June 3 at Stoney Creek Inn, Columbia, Mo. A highlight was the four talks - including two keynote sessions - given by landowners who truly are putting the science into practice. Attendees heard from Nicola MacPherson, owner and operator of Ozark Forest Mushrooms, Timber, Mo. MacPherson grows shiitake and other specialty mushrooms under a pine canopy on the family farm in southeastern Missouri and markets the gourmet offerings to restaurants and at farmer's markets in St. Louis. Chris and Jennifer Cunningham, Pinantan, British Columbia, spoke about their grass-fed, free-range lamb farm. The Cunninghams use direct marketing to sell cuts of meat at farmer's markets and on-farm.

At the Monday night landowner show-and-tell, three others shared the secrets of their enterprises - Terry Durham of Eridu Farms, Hartsburg, Mo., and Penny and George Frazier, Goods from the Woods, Salem, Mo. Durham provides newly released cultivars of elderberry to interested Midwest growers and bottles the juice from his own plants. The Fraziers harvest natural plants, fruits, nuts and other "goods from the woods" sustainably on their land, creating different products, such as witch hazel hydrosol. They recently opened a store in downtown Salem for their products and many other local offerings, such as handmade art.

Andy Gordon, left, presents Gene Garrett, UMCA director, with a lifetime achievement award as Garrett’s wife, Joyce, looks on.

Pre- and post-conference trips brought some of the attendees to the farms or stores of these innovative landowners. Saturday, a group toured Eridu Farms, while Thursday visitors saw Ozark Forest Mushrooms and the Goods from the Woods store, both near Salem, Mo. In addition, Tuesday the entire group visited another landowner, Dan Shepherd: Shepherd Farms, a large, unique operation combines pecan trees, eastern gamma grass and buffalo in Clifton Hill, Mo. Attendees snapped up the pecan and buffalo products at the on-farm store and feasted on a dinner of buffalo burgers.

Field trips also included touring various University of Missouri farms, including Bradford Research and Extension Center, Columbia; Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center, New Franklin; Greenley Research Center, Novelty; and Wurdack Farm, Cook Station; in addition to the Jefferson Farm and Gardens educational facility in Columbia and Maramec Spring Park near St. James.

Back at the Stoney Creek Inn, researchers from across the globe gave oral and poster presentations on a wide variety of topics, including carbon sequestration/carbon markets, bioenergy, forest farming, agro-ecosystem interactions, production and management, soil and water quality, and economics and marketing.

On the tour of Ozark Forest Mushrooms attendees helped harvest oyster mushrooms.

Presentations at the Monday evening conference banquet reflected on the past, present and future of agroforestry in the temperate zone. As part of these talks, Gene Garrett, director of the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry and professor of forestry, was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Association for Temperate Agroforestry for contributions to the science of agroforestry. Andy Gordon, a professor at the University of Guelph, Ontario, who began the North American Agroforestry Conference series in 1989, presented Dr. Garrett with the honor. In addition, Shibu Jose, associate professor at the University of Florida, spoke on the "future" of agroforestry. Dr. Jose will take over Dr. Garrett's position as director of the MU Center for Agroforestry Nov. 1; Dr. Garrett retires Dec. 31.

The conference was sponsored by the Association for Temperate Agroforestry, the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service-Northern Research Station, USDA SARE, USDA CSREES, and USDA National Agroforestry Center.

The University of Georgia will host the 12th North American Agroforestry Conference in summer 2011.