courses, and developing recognition mechanisms for professionals that have gained expertise in agroforestry through completion of a recommended set of agroforestry training requirements (e.g., agroforestry certification).
In spite of significant advances in both the science and practice of agroforestry during the past 35 yr, adoption has been limited. Up to about 2010, the situation persisted in which natural resource professionals and other educators were not well equipped to help landowners adopt agroforestry and benefit directly from an intensive immersion into agroforestry. Without being able to observe and understand the benefits of agroforestry, professionals lacked interest and, without interest, agroforestry practices were not being promoted or adopted. One of the most important contact points between landowners and natural resource professionals is the local county agent, often working for university extension, the USDA–NRCS, or a Soil and Water Conservation District. These are the professionals who help farmers as they adopt practices receiving local or federal government support. Although many of these professionals administer programs to which agroforestry practices might apply, the lack of knowledge or interest in those options by agents means that they are not suggesting agroforestry options to landowners, severely limiting the dissemination and demonstration of agroforestry practices.
One concrete step designed to help rectify this knowledge gap was created back in 2013. The University of Missouri and MAAWG collaborated to create a week‐long intensive crash course in agroforestry planning and design: the Agroforestry Academy (Gold et al., 2019). The Agroforestry Academy, initially funded for 2 yr through an North Central Region–SARE Professional Development Program grant, was originally designed for professional development of natural resource professionals, extension agents, and other educators to advance the adoption of agroforestry as a cornerstone of productive land use in the Midwest. After the academy’s second year, it was also opened up to landowners with a particular focus on opportunities for resource‐limited farmers and military veteran farmers. Through other grant funding, scholarships have been provided to support military veterans. Up through 2021, the Agroforestry Academy has been offered for 7 yr with 175 educators and landowners trained in agroforestry. During the past decade (i.e., 2010–2020), many other spinoff trainings, offered throughout the United States, have evolved from or in parallel with the Agroforestry Academy.
Advanced training on the five agroforestry practices includes options for marketing, economic, social dimensions, and environmental services benefits and, coupled with practice in agroforestry planning and design, facilitates the development of an agroforestry knowledge network. In turn, this has helped to build the infrastructure needed to enhance landowner adoption of agroforestry, resulting in increased sustainability of rural communities and the food and agricultural system. As a result of the Agroforestry Academy and other training programs offered across the United States, educators and landowners are gaining an improved understanding of the design and implementation of agroforestry practices, including documented changes in awareness and knowledge and on‐the‐ground adoption (Gold et al., 2019).
Identification and Support of Practitioners
It is important to recognize the level of risk a practitioner takes on in adopting or practicing agroforestry. The predominant agricultural crops and, to a lesser extent, specialty nut and fruit crops often have extensive research bases that help reduce uncertainty. That research base, coupled with government‐sponsored insurance and price support programs for many crops, significantly reduces the risk to landowners. The research base for agroforestry practices has grown substantially since 2000. While agroforestry practices do not enjoy the same level of support as commodity crops, both biophysical and socioeconomic research has been conducted to help reduce landowner risk. Government programs, especially USDA SARE grant programs directed to farmers, support the adoption and demonstration of sound agroforestry practices and are helping to address questions of risk for agroforestry adoption.
During the past decade (2010–2020), in addition to the National Agroforestry Center and the Association for Temperate Agroforestry, a number of regional agroforestry working groups have been established to bring agroforestry practitioners together. These informal networks are serving as venues for the exchange of knowledge and experiences among practitioners, cooperatives, researchers, outreach professionals, and NGOs. The growing list of key regional agroforestry working groups includes:
Northeast/Mid‐Atlantic Agroforestry Working Group (NEMA) https://www.capitalrcd.org/nema‐about‐us.html
Mid‐American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) http://midamericanagroforestry.net/
Pacific Northwest Agroforestry Working Group (PNAWG) http://pnwagro.forestry.oregonstate.edu/
Southwest Agroforestry Action Network (SWAAN) https://aces.nmsu.edu/aes/agroforestry/southwest‐agroforestry‐w.html
Appalachian Beginning Forest Farmers Coalition (ABFFC) https://www.appalachianforestfarmers.org/
Savanna Institute http://www.savannainstitute.org/
In addition, many practitioners prefer to affiliate with associations or cooperatives involving like‐minded individuals, and a number of these organizations support agroforestry specialty crop production (e.g., Northern Nut Growers Association, Chestnut Growers of America, Maple Producers Association, North American Ginseng Association, ABFFC, Northeast Organic Farmers Association, Nebraska Woody Florals). The Savanna Institute, as discussed above, is a nonprofit organization created to reap the full benefits of the experiences and knowledge emerging from the diversity of agroforestry practitioners.
At the federal level, the Cooperative Extension System has developed eXtension (eXtension.org), and within eXtension there are Communities of Practice. One such community of practice, created through a grant to Virginia Tech, is the Forest Farming Community (https://forest‐farming.extension.org/). The Forest Farming Community includes forest farmers, university faculty, and agency personnel working together to provide useful farming information. The Forest Farming Community shares information about growing and selling high‐value non‐timber forest products. Members are from across the country and have experience farming and studying edible, medicinal, decorative, and craft‐based products in woodlands. The community provides woodland owners and managers with information about startup, best practices, and markets and policies.
Because of the growing wealth of organizational resources and knowledge networks, agroforestry is becoming a more realistic and practical options for thousands of landowners.
Future Needs
In a short span of four decades, agroforestry in the United States has transitioned from a little‐used name and practice to a science‐based technology that is widely recognized. While the United States lacks a consistent national policy on agroforestry, the establishment of the USDA Agroforestry Strategic Framework for 2011–2016 (revised in 2019) has advanced agroforestry from a fragmented effort on the part of a few to an area of focus on the part of many. The question is no longer, do we need agroforestry, but rather what will agroforestry look like in the United States over the next four decades? The professional community continues to be focused on providing the biophysical and socioeconomic specifics needed to implement agroforestry on the ground. Such details comprise the rest of this volume, showing strong promise for the further development of agroforestry in the United States as well as for other developed, temperate regions of the world.
Although progress has been good, specific challenges still face the development of domestic agroforestry. First, we must continue to increase the