Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG)

1. Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) • AGROFORESTRY SESSION • (12:00-2:30pm) • Facilitators: • Diomy Zamora, University of MN • Michele Schoeneberger, US Forest Service • USDA FS/NRCS National Agroforestry Center (NE) • Jeri Neal, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture (IA) Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa

2. Agroforestry is…… ……theintentional mixing of agricultural and forestry elements to help build productive, healthy & resilient operations and landscapes. ………depending on the practice, it incorporates the other GLBW CLCs: Perennial Forage & Grazing Perennial Biomass Cover Crops Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa

3. Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) Alley Cropping Silvopasture Forest Farming Riparian Forest Buffers Windbreaks Special Applications Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa

4. Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) • BARRIERS: • Lacks institutional support • Current rules effectively eliminate agroforestry practices from consideration for govt subsidies and cost-share programs • Limited knowledge of agroforestry among agency personnel • Often relegated to a number of disconnected, disperse and independent practitioners which limits impact at landscape level • NEED: To move agroforestry into the mainstream as (1) a set of practices w/ viable markets & rural enterprises driving adoption, and (2) a system integrated at a landscape level with other sustainable land-use options. Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa

5. Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) • SUGGESTIONS • Improve agroforestry connections to other CLC strategies (and watersheds) through GLBW • a. Annual meeting like this one or different model to enhance interaction. • b. Start collecting tools in central location for easier incorporation of agroforestry (i.e., targeting tools for riparian buffers for multiple purposes) Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa

6. Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) c. List out ‘issues’ w/in Farm Bill that are creating adoption ‘dis-incentives’ to WQ/watershed improvement project. Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa

7. Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) • Addressing misconceptions/misperceptions of agroforestry w/in agencies, landowner groups & nat. resource providers – DEVELOPING A COMMON UNDERSTANDING • a. Tool: Visualization Catalog of Agroforestry Practices for different regions w/in GLBW • b. COMMON LANGUAGE/DEFINITIONS Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa

8. Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) • 3. TRAINING & EDUCATION: • a. SARE proposal: Agroforestry Academy (Gold-MO) • --If not funded, turn to Agroforestry Framework Executive Steering Team • b. Tying into national-level forestry & crop certification programs (SAF/Tri-Societies) so that agroforestry webinars can inform all that interact w/ landowner (CCA, Farm Managers). Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa

9. Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) Green Lands Blue Waters Partnership – 2012 Conference – Ames, Iowa