2024 Agroforestry Farm Tour Series
Agroforestry is a land management system in which trees and shrubs are intentionally grown alongside crops and/or livestock. Examples include forest farming, silvopasture, and alley cropping.
Interested in seeing these practices on a farm near you? In 2024, Appalachian Sustainable Development will host farm tours spread throughout Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Keep an eye on this page as new dates in our farm tour series are announced.
Tour #1: lick skillet farm, new market, tn
Friday, May 3, 2024
Cost: Free – But registration is required
Capacity: 45 people
Schedule:
9:30 am – 12:00 pm Tour
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm Lunch (included) and Networking
Come see 400 silvopasture trees installed with innovative protection methods on a commercial-scale grass-fed cattle farm. Tour includes an in-depth look at how the system works, including challenges with livestock, maintenance, and funding. Discussion will also include silvopasture applications in hog, chicken, and sheep operations. Afterwards, we’ll have a networking session aimed at connecting producers with natural resource professionals and the programs they offer.
Tour #2: Integrated Agroforestry at Appalachian Cove Farm
Cost: Free – But registration is required
Capacity: 25 people
Start time: 9:30am
Location: 2857 Cox Chapel Rd, Duffield, VA 24244
Come learn about integrated agroforestry practices from ethnobotanist and forest farmer, Dr. Ryan Huish. Ryan has applied his research interests in botany and sociocultural anthropology to his home and farm, where he and his family practice forest farming, silvopasture, alley cropping, multifunctional riparian buffer zones, indigenous plant agriculture, and animal husbandry (kunekune pigs, small ruminants, cattle, chickens, and guardian dogs). He has used NRCS cost-shares to develop a diverse agroforestry landscape. As an associate professor of biology at UVA-Wise, Ryan and colleagues completed an NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant to expand agroforestry in Appalachia. His family will provide live music and light refreshments.
More farm tour information Coming Soon!
These free educational events are made possible by the following partners:
The Edwards Mother Earth Foundation’s Catalyzing Agroforestry Grants Program
Working Trees’ ASSETS Program (Accelerating Silvopasture Adoption and Carbon Sequestration through Emerging Markets and Technologies)
Appalachian Sustainable Development’s Agroforestry Trainings for Natural Resource Professionals
Contact The Project Manager
Wyn Miller, Agroforester
Email Wyn
276.623.1121