The family farm is in need of help and this is the focal point for our Agroforestry Center's activities. The face of rural America has changed from a constellation of small family farms banding together to meet the food needs of our nation to one dominated by large corporate farms producing surpluses that help feed millions abroad. As a result, many family farms are struggling just to turn a profit. Those who have tried to compete in the conventional commodity markets have quickly realized that it is very difficult, forcing husband and wife teams to leave their profession of choice and seek employment away from the farm just to make ends meet. Found within family farm communities are millions of acres of "under-used" land ideally suited for the application of agroforestry. These lands not only can be used to grow timber products that will always be in high demand, but can be used to address an increasing demand for "local, healthier" food for which the demand is beginning to exceed the supply, along with other "niche" crops of high economic value. In return for adopting agroforestry, family farm owners greatly improve their finances and in the process retain a way of life that has been handed down from one generation to the next. Long term, there is a guaranteed market for their tree products (wood, nuts, fruit, etc.) and through careful planning, companion crops (food crops, specialty crops like pine straw, green floral products, etc.) not only help them put food on the table, but also provide income for meeting other needs.

While accommodating food and income needs, agroforestry technology also creates a healthy and stimulating environment within which to raise a family. Aldo Leopold was once quoted as saying that a farm should be more than a "food factory"; it should also be "a place to live." Agroforestry, through the merging of forestry and agricultural practices, provides a basis for the family farm to be both. Through careful planning, trees and crops can be combined to yield food and income while creating the "harmonious balance" that Leopold alluded to "between plants, animals and people; between the domestic and the wild; and between utility and beauty." The addition of "working" trees and shrubs to a family farm adds beauty while retaining utility, it creates habitat for wildlife without sacrificing domestic needs, and it increases ecological diversity so that plants, animals and people are once again truly living in harmony. Agroforestry provides the opportunity to place millions of acres of idle or near-idle farm land back into production providing multiple short- and long-term benefits to the landowner and society alike. Its adoption enables us to better meet the ecological, socioeconomic and cultural needs of land management and helps us preserve a way of life that is critical to the revitalization of rural America.

Our Center's goal is to make agroforestry part of a national strategy that provides family-farm owners the opportunity to make a significant contribution to revitalizing rural America through the adoption of practices that yield sustainable profits while preserving the integrity, stability and beauty of the farm - a place for our children and our children's children to live, grow and prosper!

Gene Garrett, Director,
University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry