Location: Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center
Project Number: 6020-21500-001-026-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jul 1, 2025
End Date: Jun 30, 2026
Objective:
The overall project objective is to develop integrated agroforestry strategies that create new economic opportunities for small farms; to enhance small farm economic viability; promote regional economic development; and contribute to environmental conservation that sustain productive agriculture landscapes. Specifically we will (1) Improve agricultural goods (e.g., perennial and annual specialty crops, forest products, forages) and ecosystem services (e.g., water quality, habitat, soil health) through breeding, management practice development, and novel integrated production systems; (2) Develop strategies to integrate trees, shrubs and grazing livestock into existing grasslands, and forages and grazing livestock into forest stands; (3) Quantify the benefits of nutrient-dense specialty crops including berry shrubs, tree crops, and medicinal plants to support value-added product development and improve community health; (4) Examine implications of conservation practices designed to manage the fate and transport of sediments, nutrients, antibiotics, and pathogens from agricultural inputs including synthetic fertilizer, herbicides, and grazing livestock manure; (5) Quantify market values, consumer preferences, and socioeconomic incentives of integrated whole-farm production systems and create models for regional economic development; (6) Draw from traditional ecological knowledge for integrate production system design that supports local and urban food supplies and socioeconomic health; and (7) Disseminate information to farmers and ranchers, professionals, and policy makers through field days, practitioner-focused curriculum, workshops, publications, and web-based resources.
Approach:
We will quantify the biophysical and socioeconomic drivers of productivity and profit for small-farm agroforestry systems where trees or shrubs are established in combination with livestock, forages and/ or other crops. That information will be used to develop novel strategies to optimize economic viability and farm-resource conservation. Multi-location trials in Missouri, Arkansas, and other parts of the Midwest Region will be utilized in this research. Biophysical investigations will encompass: measuring productivity; investigating physiological and molecular attributes to enhance growth; screening and improving germplasm; studying metabolomics for human health; breeding for heat, drought, and flood stress; developing value-added and new natural products; assessing quality of food, forage, fiber, and biomass; and assessing soil health, water quality, ecological parameters that promote yield and decrease pollution. Socio-economic investigations will include assessments of landowner attitudes towards agroforestry, landowner adoption, and market opportunities; development of new economic decision-making tools; feasibility studies for regional industry/economic development. Extension guides will be expanded to deepen grower resources with topic-specific content on management, recommendations, and site suitability.