Agroforestry Session @ 127th Annual Farmers Conference

Agroforestry and Woodland Grazing: Potential Benefits and Applications

Feb. 21, 2019

127^th Annual Farmers Conference

Double Tree Hotel, 120 Madison Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104

Agroforestry is a sustainable land-use system that involves the intentional integration and management of trees, crops, and/or livestock in a single management unit. This system offers more economical, environmental, and social benefits compared to the sole operation of its components. Well-managed agroforestry systems provide economic viability through regular, short-term incomes from crop and/or livestock components, and long-term incomes from trees. Additional short-term incomes are possible from hunting, wildlife tourism, and forest farming. There are different types of agroforestry practices (silvopasture, forest farming, alley cropping, riparian buffers, and windbreaks) that a landowner can select and adopt to make the land management system more sustainable. In this session, silvopasture and alley-cropping systems will be presented, along with the research findings in these systems conducted in Alabama. Moreover, research findings from woodland grazing systems will be shared. Woodland grazing has a great potential in Alabama and other states of the Southeast, as woodlands cover around 69% of the entire Alabama and 60% in the Southeast region. Researchers from Tuskegee and Alabama A&M Universities will be speaking at the event. 

Presentation and Discussion Topics

• Agroforestry introduction and pine silvopasture system for multiple benefits
• Alley cropping: Growing vegetables and medicinal plants between tree rows
• Efficient utilization of woodlands to produce desirable trees and small ruminants
• Economic implication of woodland grazing: Putting numbers together

More information about the  Farmers Conference is available at this link: https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/colleges-schools/caens/conferences-workshops/farmers-conference