Our Top Temperate Tree Crop Resource Recommendations

• Perennial Pathways: Planting Tree Crops - Designing & Installing Farm-Scale Edible Agroforestry by the Savanna Institute - an invaluable free resource for anyone looking to integrate trees into their farming systems. The Savanna Institute is a key player in promoting agroforestry systems at scale in the Midwest.

• Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture by J. Russell Smith - An oft referred to resource in perennial farming circles, this work was originally published in 1929 and is a must read for anyone interested in agroforestry.

• Trees of Power: Ten Essential Arboreal Allies by Akiva Silver - A great in-depth look at some of the most important tree species for agroforestry and silvopasture systems in the northern U.S. Also covers practical and cost-effective propagation techniques.

Agroforestry (general):

• Climate Resilience and Justice: Adapting to Climate Change with Agroforestry - A recorded webinar presentation hosted by the Savanna Institute in which USDA National Agroforestry Center's Research Landscape Planner, Gary Bentrup, discusses how his work contributes to our understanding of agroforestry’s role in climate resilience and climate change.

• USDA National Agroforestry Center Publications - A repository of over 200 general, technical, and research publications

Tree Fodder & Silvopasture (general)

• Silvopasture: A Guide to Managing Grazing Animals, Forage Crops, and Trees in a Temperate Farm Ecosystem by Steve Gabriel - An essential companion for anyone interested in temperate silvopasture. Includes historical background, design ideas, considerations for implementation and more!

• Silvopasturebook.com - An online complimentary resource to Steve’s book that he updates periodically. Contains links to published papers and other resources as well as info on tree fodder research at Wellspring Forest Farm.

• Open-source ZOTERO tree fodder library - compiled by Steve Gabriel

• Farming with Trees YouTube Channel - curated by Steve Gabriel. Contains many recorded webinars and presentations on silvopasture, tree fodders and fungi.

• Silvopasture Food Safety - A recorded webinar presentation hosted by the Savanna Institute in which Steve Gabriel discusses rules, regulations and considerations for food safety in a silvopasture.

Tree Fodder Mechanization Videos

These videos blew my mind the first time I watched them! Before seeing them I had always thought of tree fodder and tree hay as a small scale endeavor. These videos show what is possible when machinery and equipment are added to the equation.

• Baling a willow fodder block - Mechanized harvest of a willow fodder block in the Netherlands

• Pollarding young willows in a fodder block - Poplars & Willows New Zealand

Trees Crops Info (general)

• Profitable Tree Crops: Tom Wahl - A recorded webinar presentation hosted by the Savanna Institute in which Tom Wahl, Co-Owner and Farmer at Red Fern Farm in IA, discusses which tree crops are most profitable for your farm. He provides great information plus perspective of more than 30 years. Crops he talks about include chestnuts, Asian pears, honeyberries as well as crops that have not proven to be profitable in the Midwest.

Tree Info by Species

Chestnut

• Practical Farmers of Iowa Recorded Presentation: Chestnut Establishment & Maintenance - by Tom Wahl

• Practical Farmers of Iowa Recorded Presentation: Opportunities for Chestnut Production in the Midwest - by Dr. Michael Gold

• Descriptions of Chestnut Cultivars for Nut Production in the Eastern and Midwestern United States - by R. Revord, J.M. Nave, G. Miller, N. Meier, J.B. Webber, M.A. Gold, T. Wahl

• Cultivars of Chestnuts (Updated November 2023) - by Sandra Anagnostakis

Honey Locust

• Honey locust pods as part of a complete (livestock) breakfast by Kathy Voth

• How much feed can Honey Locust add to your stockpile? by Austin Unruh

• The Thornless Honey Locust for Silvopasture in Southwest Missouri by Joe Alley

• Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) - Feedipedia

• Species Spotlight: Honeylocust - by Mike Gold, Center for Agroforestry at University of Missouri

Pawpaw

• Pawpaw Production and Marketing: Tom Wahl - A recorded webinar presentation hosted by the Savanna Institute in which Tom Wahl of Red Fern Farm discusses design, site selection, inter-planting, growing, harvesting, and marketing of pawpaws in a Midwestern agroforestry/perennial polyculture system.

Sheep

• Eastern Alliance for Production Katahdins (EAPK)

• Katahdin Hair Sheep International (KHSI)

• National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP)

• Sheep Things Podcast with Robert Walker & Caleb Pirc - informative and in-depth conversations with members of the Katahdin community & sheep industry leaders

• All About Sheep: Fun Facts and More! - A fun resource for all ages including some fun facts about sheep. (Big thanks to Ms. Platt & her students Tatianna, Jessica, Noah, and Emily for bringing this resource to our attention!)