4th Annual Missouri Chestnut Roast
Oct. 14, 2006
Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center,
New Franklin, Mo.
For information about the 2006 event please click here.

Windbreaks and Other Practices to Manage Livestock Odors
July 25, 2006 - Paris, Mo.
Sponsored by the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry, with funding from SARE (a program of the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service). Not only are windbreaks attractive and relatively low-maintenance, they provide odor mitigation benefits that are critical to livestock operations' owners. The importance of windbreaks, and their design and management, was the topic of an agroforestry workshop hosted by the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry (UMCA) on July 25, in Paris, Mo.

Funded by a grant received by the Center for Agroforestry through the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education professional development program, the workshop brought more than 40 natural resource professionals and landowners together to learn about windbreaks and evaluate a "real world" case study.

Specialty Mushroom Production and Marketing Workshop
Feb. 17 - 18, 2006 — Columbia, Mo.
More than 40 participants from across the Midwest attended the workshop designed to teach the basics of production and/or marketing techniques for specialty gourmet mushrooms, including shiitake, oyster and Stropharia. University of Missouri research faculty members, professional mushroom growers and marketers provided participants the knowledge and skills needed to get started growing and marketing mushrooms.

A hands-on tour of the mushroom cultivation sites at the MU Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center, New Franklin, Mo., featured demonstrations of UMCA current research and explored the steps involved in growing mushrooms in a forest farming setting. Read more in Green Horizons.

MU Plant Pathologist Jeanne Mihail instructs a participant on the correct technique for drilling an oak log.

Agroforestry Training Workshop
Jan. 10-11, 2006 — Columbia, Mo.
In the fall of 2005, the Center was awarded a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Professional Development Program grant to fund a series of agroforestry trainings geared toward a targeted audience: individuals from state and government federal agencies, University Extension personnel, and non-profit and professional organizations dealing with issues that directly impact landowners and their management of forests and farms. More than 50 professionals representing several disciplines in the natural resource-based fields attended the January training. The training was designed to increase core agencies' knowledge about agroforestry practices and the benefits they offer when applied as sustainable farming practices, and to foster the establishment of social networks for assisting resource professionals and landowners in finding answers regarding the establishment and management of agroforestry. The event utilized a new and updated Agroforestry Training Manual designed to facilitate all phases of implementing the five agroforestry practices (available for download or order on the Publications page. A tour of the Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center at New Franklin, Mo., featured demonstrations of diverse agroforestry practices. Natural resource professionals broke into smaller multi-agency work groups to evaluate implementing agroforestry practices into a real-world agroforestry case study, Idolour Farm in Boone County, Mo. Read more in Green Horizons.

Mike Gold, UMCA associate director, teaches training workshop participants how to earn profit from trees in creative ways using agroforestry practices.

3rd Annual Chestnut Roast
October 29, 2005
Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center,
New Franklin, Mo.
For information about the 2005 event please click here.

Riparian Buffer Workshop
October 27, 2005 — Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center, New Franklin, Mo.
The maintenance of existing forests and the establishment of new trees in areas adjacent to streams (and prone to flooding) can be challenging. The University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry (UMCA), and its collaborative researchers, addressed this challenge at a field day in October, focusing on current riparian buffer research and its application on the land. Titled "Managing Riparian Forests and Riparian Buffers," the field day was hosted at the University of Missouri Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center at New Franklin, Mo. Topics included design and maintenance of riparian forests and buffers; planting configurations to reduce erosion; species selection; wildlife management; value added opportunities and cost-share/incentive programs. The Center for Agroforestry extends special thanks to the Missouri Department of Conservation, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service and the University of Missouri for the expertise their personnel contributed to the program. Read more in Green Horizons.

The riparian forest buffers workshop brought participants to the HARC farm to learn how to effectively manage this agroforestry practice for maximum benefit - including water quality, wildlife habitat and value added product production.

Shiitake Mushroom Production: From Tree to Table
April 16, 2005 — Ozark Forest Mushrooms, Bunker, Mo.
This hands-on workshop featured demonstrations of shiitake mushroom production and profitable forest management through agroforestry practices. The event was sponsored by Ozark Forest Mushrooms, UMCA and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE).

Participants learned step-by-step about the shiitake mushroom process, from the management of the forest for mushroom log production to packaging and marketing fresh and dried shiitakes for retail sale. Also featured was a wood furnace that fuels a greenhouse for winter production, partially funded by a SARE grant to utilize "spent" logs as a heat source. Proprietors and staff of the successful Ozark Forest Mushrooms business led participants through demonstrations and field tours, as well as faculty and staff from the Center for Agroforestry and forestry/natural resources professionals.

Nicola Macpherson, left, proprietor of Ozark Forest Mushrooms, leads a discussion about sustainable, year-round shiitake production in her greenhouse. The greenhouse is heated by burning the farm's spent mushroom logs.