Specialty Crops in Temperate Agroforestry Systems: Sustainable Management, Marketing and Promotion for the Midwest Region of the U.S.A.

Abstract

U.S. agricultural and rural communities face ongoing challenges including profitabilityProfitabilityand environmental stresses that threaten the livelihoodsLivelihoodsand well-being of many who work the land and/or live in rural areas. Ongoing concerns exist regarding the sustainabilitySustainabilityof small family farms. Using sustainable agricultural practices and promoting locally produced specialty crops will provide new opportunities for small farms to be both profitable and environmentally sustainable. Specialty nut crops and Non-Timber Forest Products crops (e.g. eastern black walnut, elderberry, log-grown shiitake mushroomsMushrooms, ginseng) produced in perennial polycultures (e.g. agroforestry systems, AFS) offer opportunities to introduce environmentally, economically and socially sustainable agricultural systems that create new opportunities for farmers, ranchersRanch, forest landowners, and families in rural communities. An integrated, long-term approach involving cultivar selectionCultivar selectionand breeding, field production techniques, market and consumer studiesConsumer studies, sound financial decision support tools and grower training is needed to bring specialty crops into the sustainable agriculture mainstream. This chapter summarizes recent research carried by the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry (UMCA) on specialty crops, focusing on edible tree nuts (chestnuts and black walnuts), fruits and berries (elderberry), and other potential specialty crops.