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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE InsideAgroforestry VOLUME 28 ISSUE 1

Productive Buffers

Buffer Benefits - Beyond the Basics
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

NAC Corner

Agroforestry practices, including riparian and other 

conservation buffers, have always provided multiple 

benefits. However, in recent years there has been 

increasing interest in “multifunctional” buffers, also 

called “productive” or “income-producing” buffers.

These are trees, shrubs, and other plants designed 

to create both conservation benefits and products 

that can be harvested and sold, such as fruits, 

nuts, and decorative woody floral species. 

The USDA National Agroforestry Center

has spent years working with many 

partners to research, demonstrate, and 

provide guidance on multifunctional buffer 

establishment and management. 

In 2012, the National Agroforestry Center partnered 

with Virginia Tech to create a woody floral 

demonstration site that widened an existing riparian 

buffer at the Catawba Sustainability Center. In 2016, 

National Agroforestry Center staff, with assistance 

from Appalachian Sustainable Development and 

Virginia Tech, developed the to estimate income 

potential from harvesting and selling fruits, nuts, 

and other species incorporated into buffers. Since 

this project, NAC has worked with many partners 

to advance multifunctional buffers through 

publications and workshops around the U.S.

In addition to the tools highlighted by partners 

in this issue, the Center also has multiple tools to 

assist in multifunctional buffer design. The Center’s 

Conservation Buffer Guide, first published in 2008, 

provides design guidelines that help buffers achieve 

multiple functions. Tree Advisor, a new tool the 

Center developed for the Northern Great Plains, 

also helps with selection of tree and shrub species 

for multiple conservation and production purposes. 

Please reach out to Center staff with ideas for tools 

that would help you in your work, or if you’d like to 

share examples of multifunctional buffers near you!

National Agroforestry Producers Survey 

Many farmers and researchers know the National 

Agricultural Statistics Service from the Census of 

Agriculture, which collects important information 

from farmers on their production and conservation 

practices, along with other information. This 

information is essential for program funding and 

design.The National Agroforestry Center has 

partnered with the National Agricultural Statistics 

Service, Agricultural Research Service, and the 

Natural Resources Conservation Service to carry 

out a National Agroforestry Producers Survey to 

collect information about the types of agroforestry 

practices used, how they are used, and the number 

of operations using them. This survey was sent to 

producers who said they used agroforestry practices 

on the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Results from this 

survey will be available from USDA later this year.

Looking to keep up with NAC?

Subscribe to our Agroforestry Connection e-mail list 

and stay up to date on new publications, events, and 

presentations from the National Agroforestry Center!
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

Working Trees 

Information Sheets

The National Agroforestry Center has released 

two new “Working Trees Information Sheets” 

related to agroforestry and climate change: 

• How does Climate Variability Influence 

Agroforestry Plant Selection?

• How Can Agroforestry Increase Carbon 

Sequestration? 

These information sheets are available for 

download on the “Climate Change” page of the 

National Agroforestry Center website: https://

www.fs.usda.gov/nac/topics/climate-change.php

Printed copies can also be ordered at 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/resources/

publications/order/index.php

Research Publications

The National Agroforestry Center has released 

several new research publications available on the 

Publications page of the National Agroforestry 

Center website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/

resources/publications/index.php#research

• Windbreaks in the United States: A Systemic 

Review of Producer-Reported Benefits, 

Challenges, Management Activities, and Drivers 

of Adoption

• Silvopasture in the USA: A Systemic Review of 

Natural Resource Professional and ProducerReported Benefits, Challenges, and Management 

Activities 

• Making Trees Outside Forests Count story map
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

Elderberry Hedgerows Provide Farm Income and 

Environmental Benefits

Sonja Brodt, University of California Sustainable Agriculture 

Research and Education Program

This article was adapted from “Native blue elderberries in 

western hedgerows provide farm income and environmental 

benefits,” published in the Temperate Agroforester: 

Volume 26 Number 4, December 2020.

As semi-wild places in otherwise intensively-managed 

agricultural landscapes, hedgerows provide numerous 

ecological benefits. They provide natural habitat 

and travel corridors for wildlife, support beneficial 

insect populations with pollen, nectar, and shelter, 

can act as windbreaks for crops and shelter for 

livestock, and, if designed appropriately, can also 

serve as living fences and boundary markers.

While native hedgerows on farm edges have 

these benefits, hedgerow planting by farmers in 

California is limited, often due to establishment and 

maintenance costs. But what if hedgerows could 

provide a source of farm income to offset costs? 

California’s native blue elderberries (Sambucus 

nigra, ssp. cerulea) are already often planted in 

hedgerows, and grow in a wide range of microclimates 

across the state. Elderberries are also displaying 

adaptability to a changing climate and growing 

water constraints. In the meantime, with increasing 

consumer interest in health foods, elderberry 

product sales nationwide have jumped 10 to 50 

percent in recent years, but almost no commercial 

supply originates in California. Although native 

blue elderberry has been an important resource for 

food and other culturally important materials for 

Tribes for thousands of years, little is known in the 

commercial agriculture and food sector about its 

food chemistry or its cultivation and marketing. 

Hedgerows of native perennials can be costly 

to install and maintain during the first few 

establishment years, with installation costs 

typically running from $3,000 to $4,000 per 

1,000 linear feet for 10-foot wide hedgerows 

in California. Although State and Federal 

programs provide cost-share incentives, 

hedgerows still appear relatively infrequently 

on intensive, high-value agricultural landscapes 

like those in the Central Valley of California.

In a 2.5-year project, the University of California 

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education 

Program collaborated with local farmers to 

demonstrate a new role for hedgerows – one 

Blue elderberries show promise as a hedgerow crop. Courtesy photo by Katie Uhl, University of California 

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

Blue elderberry hedgerow along a roadside. Courtesy photo by Sonja Brodt, University of California 

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

in which they can produce a marketable crop at 

the same time as providing ecosystem services. 

Blue elderberry is related to the better-known 

European and North American black elderberries, 

and it grows robustly in many areas of the West, 

from near sea level to 10,000 ft in elevation. 

Although it is generally considered a riparian 

species, it appears to be much more drought-tolerant 

than black elderberries, and can grow well in the 

summer-dry Mediterranean-type climate of much 

of California, with minimal, or, in some areas, 

no irrigation inputs required once mature. Blue 

elderberry is already a common species included 

in multi-species native hedgerows, but only a 

few small-scale farms in California are known to 

harvest and use it for value-added products. 

The farmer-researcher team recently completed a 

field trial in the southern Sacramento Valley (part of 

the larger Central Valley) to assess the profitability 

of blue elderberry production in multi-species 

hedgerows. Three organic farms implemented three 

distinct planting designs: 1) a wide, multi-species 

hedgerow with elderberries comprising about 15 

percent of total plant numbers, 2) a closely-spaced 

(6-feet) elderberry-only hedgerow placed against a 

narrow pre-existing habitat strip, and 3) elderberries 

widely interspersed in a mature border habitat strip. 

The team found that with good weed control 

(accomplished by extensive mulching) and soil 

preparation in a deep clay loam soil, elderberry yields 

from a 1,000-foot hedgerow could provide as much 

as $3,000 to $4,000 in revenue by the second year, 

essentially paying for establishment costs. However, 

the trial also showed that competition from weeds or 

other mature plants, as well as planting in compacted, 

untilled soil could significantly slow early growth, 

delaying this break-even point for another few years. 

Exploratory harvest of large, mature blue elderberries 

already in the landscape showed that potential gross 

future revenue possibilities could range in the tens of 

thousands of dollars from a 1,000-foot hedgerow, at 

current prices for frozen, de-stemmed elderberries. 

Value-added processing and specialty products made 

on-farm could further increase overall profitability. 

Participating farmers found that one of the 

primary bottlenecks to increasing production was 

the labor-intensive nature of hand harvest and 

de-stemming the berries. The team is exploring 

options for mechanized de-stemming, similar to 

that used in the Midwestern elderberry industry.

The team also surveyed elderberry buyers to 

assess marketing potential. Consumer demand 

for elderberry-based products has skyrocketed in 
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

recent years. While there is currently no largescale infrastructure or standardization of quality 

parameters for blue elderberry, substantial interest 

from small-scale buyers and potentially also 

larger retailers exists. Two-thirds of surveyed 

herbal and specialty foods processors and retailers 

reported strong interest in sourcing Californiagrown elderberries. They also indicated they could 

not find enough supply to meet their needs.

Farmers who grow blue elderberry can tap into 

this growing market. The team is currently 

exploring options - such as producer cooperatives 

and other mechanisms, for scaling up production 

and marketing to meet growing interest from 

larger-scale companies, while still maintaining 

the integrity of the hedgerow production model 

and the ecosystem services it provides. 

This research project has compiled a wide 

range of resources about elderberry as a 

hedgerow crop for California farms:

• Producing Blue Elderberry as a Hedgerow-Based 

Crop in California

• Growing Elderberries in California 

• Why Plant Elderberries in Multi-species 

Hedgerows?

• Harvesting, Processing & Marketing

• Health & Flavor

• Blue Elderberry Compared to Black 

• Indigenous Relationship to Elderberry

• Elderberry Cost & Return Studies

Field trip participants learn about elderberry 

at Cloverleaf Farms. Courtesy photo by Sonja 

Brodt, University of California Sustainable 

Agriculture Research and Education Program.

To learn more about this research and to 

find educational resources for cultivating, 

processing, and marketing elderberry, visit 

https://ucanr.edu/sites/Elderberry/.]

Growing Soil and Doing Good While Doing Well

Tracey Coulter, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation 

and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry

There is a point in Potter County, Pennsylvania 

that is known as the Triple Divide – a place 

where three springs rise to follow their divergent 

paths to the sea. One forms the Allegheny 

River, whose waters are destined for the Gulf of 

Mexico. Another, the Genesee, flows north to the 

Great Lakes. The last, the Susquehanna River, 

joins Pine Creek as part of the largest watershed 

in Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna, along with 

Pennsylvania’s share of the Potomac, provides nearly 

50 percent of the Chesapeake Bay’s fresh water.

Before it reaches the bay, the Susquehanna flows past 

cities and farms, picking up nutrients, sediment, and 

pollutants along the way. These pollutants negatively 

affect the ecosystem, including blue crab, oyster, 

and fish species that support fishery-dependent 
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

communities. In the mid-1980s, Pennsylvania joined 

other states to form the Chesapeake Bay Program, a 

partnership to guide the restoration of the bay and to 

address the flow of pollutants that impair its waters.

Austin Unruh and Louise Bugbee planting a buffer at Misty Valley. Courtesy Photo by Austin Unruh, Crow 

and Berry Land Management.

Planting streamside buffers quickly became a key 

strategy to restoring the bay. State and Federal 

agencies, non-governmental organizations, and 

individuals rallied to plant buffers. The USDA’s 

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program was 

used to establish and fund buffers early in the effort. 

In this program, farmers receive a 10 to 15-year rental 

payment in exchange for removing their land from 

production.They also receive financial assistance to 

plant perennial cover, including trees, shrubs, and 

grasses. Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program 

contracts prohibit sale of products grown in Programfunded plantings for the length of the contract.

Profitability was not a concern when Ann and Don 

English worked with a restoration specialist with the 

Chesapeake Bay Foundation to design a four-acre 

program-funded buffer. Ann is a landscape architect, 

and Don a forest economist, and both have off-farm 

jobs. Their buffer goals were to reduce pollution - 

especially sediment - create pollinator and bird habitat, 

increase species diversity, establish a food forest, and 

rebuild soil impacted by years of annual cropping.

To begin this process, they planted 534 plants 

comprised of 65 tree and shrub species, including 

oak, chestnut, persimmon, hickory, elderberry, 

chokeberry, holly, and virburnum in their buffer. In 

2020, they harvested 100 pounds of honey from bees 

foraging in this restored ecosystem.They are now 

working with researchers at Rutgers University to 

trial blight-resistant hazelnuts on two acres of former 

crop land to expand their buffer even further.

Costs of establishment and time required for 

maintenance can deter busy farmers and landowners 

from buffering their streams. While profitability is not 

always the sole motivation, it is certainly a reason that 

landowners consider planting and retaining a riparian 

forest buffer. For some people, harvesting products or 

deriving rental fees from their buffers is important.

State and Federal agencies, non-governmental 

organizations, and partners considered these factors 

when they looked at ways to increase buffer adoption. 

New programs and funding sources emerged to 

provide financial assistance for the planting and 

maintenance of buffers that enhance water quality 

and habitat and also can produce nuts, berries, fruits 

or cut florals for sale. Some grant-funded trials even 

feature buffers expanded with tree-lined alleys, 

to allow rotational grazing or hay production.

Technical service providers and consultants 

like Andrea Ferich and Austin Unruh are the 

"boots on the ground" who work directly with 

the landowners to get the buffers planted. Ferich 

has a passion for conservation and community. 

After serving as the Director of Sustainability for 
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

the Center for Environmental Transformation in 

Camden, New Jersey, she returned to Pennsylvania 

to lead Penn’s Valley Conservation Association 

as its executive director. Penn’s Valley is home 

to farmland and renowned trout streams.

In 2016, Ferich established Ironwood Forestry, a 

forestry consultancy that provides buffer design 

and implementation services throughout the 

community. Her clients include farmers, herbalists, 

bakers, a nascent fishing lodge, and even an 

outdoor adventure camp. This multifunctionality 

of intention, whether to teach campers about wild 

edibles, provide elderberries for a local winery, 

protect a destination trout stream, or supply herbal 

remedies, connects this community to their streams.

Village Acres is the last farm on Lost Creek before 

it joins the Juniata River, which eventually joins 

the Susquehanna River. This is a place of multiples 

– multiple generations, multiple enterprises, and 

multiple ideas for buffer design. Ferich worked 

with the Brubaker family to meet these goals. 

She planted woody florals for Phoebe’s floral designs, 

shade trees and willows for Chandler’s sheep and 

Hannah’s chickens, flowering trees and shrubs for the 

insects that pollinate the fruits, and vegetables sisters 

Debra and Angela grow for the family’s community 

supported agriculture program. Cousins Chandler, 

Owen, Andrew, Riley, and Frances are university 

students who provide welcome and capable assistance 

during breaks from their coursework. Brother Roy 

Dale, a forester, and his wife Julie, farm nearby. 

They raise beef, pork, and lamb that they market 

along with the vegetables from the family farm.

Hope Brubaker, though, is the family matriarch 

and gifted at growing anything. Her ability to grow 

pawpaw trees is legendary. The buffer was dubbed 

“Hope’s Forest” because so many of her own trees 

were planted there. Community is important to the 

people of Mifflintown, and for this family, that 

Austin Unruh and his nursery. Courtesy photo by Austin Unruh, Crow and Berry Land Management
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

means nurturing life - a value reflected 

in their newly planted “forest.”

Unruh, founder of Crow and Berry Land Management, 

knows opportunity when he sees it. Just after Labor 

Day, 2016, Unruh attended a training at Penn State’s 

Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville, 

funded by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture 

Research & Education Professional Development 

Grant Program. More than 30 participants and trainers 

from nine states gathered for the three-day training.

Looking back, Unruh says the networking at the 

event helped spur the founding of his business. 

Buffers were a launching point for this new enterprise 

because buffers (and technical service providers) 

were in demand in the region, and State and Federal 

funding was available to get them on the ground.

A turning point came when Unruh was hired by the 

farmers at Fiddle Creek Dairy to perform maintenance 

on their Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program 

buffer. Fiddle Creek Dairy sells yogurt and other dairy 

products as well as beef from its grass-fed herd.

While talking to the farmers, Unruh brought up the 

idea of expanding the buffer into the pasture. Noting 

that a silvopasture planting of trees would help to 

“keep the water up high” by reducing the flow to 

the streamside buffer, Unruh sought and received a 

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural 

Resources grant to pilot an expanded “grazed buffer” 

provided that the existing buffer was left intact.

Protecting water quality took on a new look. Instead 

of planting elderberries and woody florals, Unruh 

sought out sources for improved mulberries, black 

locusts, honeylocusts, and persimmons. Lucky 

for him, John Hershey had already done the work 

in the 1930s and '40s, and what remained of the 

famous Downingtown orchards was nearby. 

Ever the entrepreneur, Unruh began a nursery 

and another enterprise, Trees for Graziers.

When viewing the world solely through a lens of 

conservation, opportunities can be missed. These 

Pennsylvania stories provide examples for how and 

why land managers are interested in developing 

buffers with many functions, including on-farm 

benefit and income Crow and Berry’s website says 

it well: “Sometimes the best results come from 

unlikely combinations, like growing profit while 

growing soil and doing good while doing well.”]

The Windbreak Cookbook

Featuring Fruits of Prarie Forests

Beside shade and wind protection, many trees 

provide edible fruits that can be used on our 

menus. This publication provides information about 

trees, as well as many recipes. The publication was 

developed by the North Dakota Forest Service and 

North Dakota State University Extension Service.

To learn more about what can be made with 

products from windbreaks, visit https://www.

ag.ndsu.edu/publications/lawns-gardens-trees/

the-windbreak-cookbook-featuring-fruits-ofprairie-forests for more recipes and ideas.
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

Harvesting in Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

Program Contracts: 2018 Farm Bill Updates

Richard Straight, USDA National Agroforestry Center

The USDA Conservation Reserve Program and 

related programs like Conservation Reserve 

Enhancement Program, have been around for more 

than 30 years. Each Farm Bill since the Conservation 

Reserve Program's inception has provided a 

variety of modifications to these programs. The 

2018 Farm Bill was no exception. Of particular 

interest to farmers with an eye toward agroforestry 

is the potential to harvest a food crop from a 

riparian forest buffer that is under a Conservation 

Reserve Enhancement Program contract.

One of the important provisions of the 

Conservation Reserve and the Conservation 

Reserve Enhancement Program is an annual rental 

payment as a part of the 10-15-year contract. As a 

result, farmers are limited on the allowable incomegenerating activities on land under contract. 

For example, a farmer is not allowed to graze 

livestock, harvest hay, or sell hay cut from land 

under contract. The exception for this stipulation 

is when drought occurs, thereby allowing what is 

commonly called “emergency haying and grazing.” 

In such cases the annual payment is reduced.

Aronia. USDA Forest Service photo by 

Richard Straight.

Pecans. USDA Forest Service photo by Richard Straight.
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

A new provision under the 2018 Farm Bill allows 

food-producing woody plants to be included in a 

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program 

planting as part of a riparian buffer if 

the following criteria are met:

• Plants contribute to the conservation of soil, water 

quality, and wildlife habitat.

• Plants are consistent with recommendations of the 

applicable State Technical Committee.

• Plants are consistent with the Natural Resource 

Conservation Service Field Office Technical Guide.

• Plants are provided for in the conservation plan.

In addition, it provides that if such species are 

planted, the participant may harvest from the 

food-producing woody plants if other criteria 

are met, regardless if the crop is sold or not:

• The participant agrees to a reduction in the annual 

rental payment commensurate with the value of the 

crop harvested.

• All the food-producing woody plant species in the 

riparian buffer that are within 35 feet of the water 

body must be native plant species.

• The harvesting will not damage the approved 

cover or otherwise have a negative impact on 

the resource concern being addressed by the 

riparian buffer.

• The harvesting is conducted in accordance with the 

conservation plan.

However, the food-producing plant itself may 

not be harvested. In addition, the annual rental 

payment will be reduced commensurate with 

the value of the crop harvested. This provision 

is not allowed for windbreaks, hedgerows, 

or any other conservation practice.

It is important to note that the planting of 

food-producing plants and the expectation 

to harvest during the life of the contract 

must be a part of the conservation plan.

If you’re interested in growing a tree crop in a riparian 

buffer, check out the Conservation Reserve Program 

website, or give your USDA Service Center a call to 

set up an appointment to find out if a Conservation 

Reserve Enhancement Program contract is for you.]

Highbush Cranberry. USDA Forest Service Photo by 

Richard Straight.
Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 28, Issue 1

Inside Agroforestry VOLUME 28, ISSUE 1

USDA National Agroforestry Center 

1945 N 38th St. 

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Available Resources

NTFP webinar series: 

https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/

webinars/ntfp/

Conservation Webinars: NRCS 

Science and Technology 

Training Library:

https://conservationwebinars.net/

Agroforestry Webinar Library:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/

resources/webinar-library/

index.php

“Inside Agroforestry” is published by the USDA National 

Agroforestry Center: www.fs.usda.gov/nac 

Phone: 402-437-5178 

Fax: 402-437-5712

• NAC Director, Vacant

• Matthew Smith, FS Research Lead (ext. 4021)

• Richard Straight, FS Lead Agroforester (ext. 4024)

• Lord Ameyaw, NRCS Agroforester (ext. 4012)

• Kate MacFarland, FS Agroforester

• Josh Bundy, Information Assistant

NAC Mission

The USDA National Agroforestry Center (NAC) is a partnership of the Forest Service (Research & Development and State & Private Forestry) 

and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. NAC’s staff is located at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. NAC’s purpose is to accelerate 

the development and application of agroforestry technologies to attain more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable land 

use systems by working with a national network of partners and cooperators to conduct research, develop technologies and tools, establish 

demonstrations, and provide useful information to natural resource professionals.

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National Agroforestry Center

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE