Farm your forest? Here’s how!

Woodland owners across the Driftless are embracing a new trend: combining annual crop production with perennial cover like trees or shrubs, or agroforestry.

Benefits of agroforestry systems are vast: wildlife habitat, improved soil health, diversified income, cleaner water and air, and more!

Agroforestry can take many forms:

• Alley cropping – vegetables grow between trees and shrubs
• Forest farming – specialty crops grow under mature forest canopy
• Riparian buffers – trees and shrubs grow adjacent to streams and wetlands to protect waterways
• Silvopasture – trees, livestock and forages are managed together
• Windbreaks – field windbreaks protect soil and improve crop yields

Sound interesting? Get the basics of agroforestry systems.