NAC | Working Trees for Agriculture

*Forest Farming* In forest farming, high-value specialty crops are cultivated under the protection of a forest canopy that has been modified to provide the correct shade level. Crops like ginseng, shiitake mushrooms, and decorative ferns are sold for medicinal, culinary, or ornamental uses. Forest farming provides income while high-quality trees are being grown for wood products.
*Alley Cropping* An agricultural crop is grown simultaneously with a long-term tree crop to provide annual income while the tree crop matures. Fine hardwoods like walnut, oak, ash and pecan are favored species in alley cropping systems and can potentially provide high-value lumber or veneer logs. Nut crops can be another intermediate product.
*Windbreaks* Windbreaks are planted and managed as part of a crop and/or livestock operation to enhance production, protect livestock, and control soil erosion. Field windbreaks protect a variety of wind-sensitive row, cereal, vegetable, orchard and vine crops, control wind erosion, and increase bee pollination and pesticide effectiveness. Livestock windbreaks help reduce feed consumption, and help reduce visual impact and odors. Living snowfences keep roads clean of drifting snow and increase driving safety. They can also spread snow evenly across a field, increasing spring soil moisture.
*Riparian Buffer Strips* Natural or re-established streamside forests made up of tree, shrub, and grass plantings buffer non-point source pollution of waterways from adjacent land, reduce bank erosion, protect aquatic environments, enhance wildlife, and increase biodiversity.
*Silvopasture* Silvopasture combines trees with forage and livestock production. The trees are managed for high-value sawlogs and at the same time provide shade and shelter for livestock and forage, reducing stress and sometimes increasing forage production. In plantations of conifers or hardwoods for timber or Christmas trees, managed grazing provides added products and income. Some nut and fruit orchards may also be grazed.
*Special Applications* Tree and shrub plantings may be used to help solve special farm concerns such as disposal of animal wastes and filtering irrigation tailwater while producing a short or long rotation woody crop. Special multi-row "timberbelts" can be managed both to protect crops or livestock and to produce hardwood timber or a short-rotation woody crop for fuel or fiber. All of the agroforestry practices can be enhanced to provide wildlife habitat. Plantings of trees, shrubs, grasses, and feedgrains provide havens for wildlife.

...previous page | first page...