Does your farm or ranch have ... neglected or 

under utilized woodlots?

Income Opportunities:

Wood for energy, lumber, specialty forest products, food

Agroforestry Practice: forest farming

Well-managed woodlots can potentially produce high 

quality lumber, firewood and valuable specialty forest 

products like maple syrup, ginseng and other medicinal 

plants, which are grown under shade. Pine straw may be 

another income-generating option from loblolly or longleaf 

pine plantations where there are markets.

Does your farm or ranch have ... unsheltered 

farmsteads and livestock areas, fence lines or 

degraded windbreaks?

Income Opportunities:

Wood fiber, lumber, specialty forest products, food

Agroforestry Practice: windbreak

Multiple row windbreaks are places to produce marketable 

products like hybrid poplar, wood, nuts, apples, cherries, 

blackberries and woody floral products. Evergreens can be 

sold as Christmas trees, boughs for seasonal floral products 

or as landscaping plants, while adding color to farms and 

providing protection for birds and other wildlife.

Working Trees

Info What are agroforestry’s 

income opportunities?

Does your farm or ranch have ... marginally 

productive fields?

Income Opportunities:

Wood fiber, lumber, fruit, nuts and many other crops

Agroforestry Practice: alley cropping

Blueberries, chokecherries, elderberries, chestnuts, hazelnuts, 

and many others have great potential when marketed as locally 

grown products. Possible inter-crops include vegetables, 

horticultural plants, forages and traditional row crops. This 

system will be producing valuable products while protecting 

the land.

Agroforestry is an approach to land use that incorporates trees and shrubs into agricultural 

systems and allows for the production of trees, crops and/or livestock from the same piece 

of land. It offers ways to take advantage of profitable product markets and, at the same 

time, helps improve the land and the environment.

Look at the fields, woods, streamsides and fence rows around a farm or ranch. Are any of these 

areas under utilized? There are many opportunities for farmers and ranchers to introduce 

agroforestry practices on their land, which may open up new income possibilities while adding 

conservation benefits. Get started by taking a closer look at your land.
Does your farm or ranch have ... pivot irrigation corners, small out-of-the-way 

parcels?

Income Opportunities:

Fruit and nut bearing trees and shrubs, woody florals, lease hunting

Agroforestry Practice: alley cropping or forest farming

In addition to the crops mentioned above, Alley Cropping or Forest Farming practices can 

produce vegetables or fast-growing trees like hybrid poplar or hybrid cottonwood that can 

be harvested and sold for pulpwood, wood for energy and other solid wood products. Some 

forest product companies may offer advanced purchase or lease agreements that provide 

annual payments before the trees are harvested. Because these plantings also attract wildlife, 

hunting leases are a possible income source. 

More information on the Web 

USDA National Agroforestry Center www.unl.edu/nac

Natural Resources Conservation Service www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/landuse/forestry/sustain

The Center for Agroforestry www.centerforagroforestry.org/profit

The Association for Temperate Agroforestry www.aftaweb.org/what_is_agroforestry.php

The University of Minnesota www.extension.umn.edu/agroforestry/about.html

The Center for Subtropical Agroforestry http://sfrc.ifas.ufl.edu/cstaf 

A partnership of

Natural Resources 

Conservation Service

Does your farm or ranch have ... areas along streams, lakes or rivers?

Income Opportunities:

Wood fiber, lumber, specialty forest products, wood for energy

Agroforestry Practice: riparian forest buffer

Trees, shrubs, forbs and grasses along a waterway can be designed to achieve conservation purposes 

such as improved water quality and reduced flood damage, while also yielding a variety of products. 

These include wood from high-value species such as walnut, oak, maple, plants used for medicinal 

and botanical purposes, food (berries, nuts and mushrooms), specialty woods and woody florals.

Does your farm or ranch have ... open pastures with no shade?

Income Opportunities:

Wood fiber, lumber, specialty products, livestock, wood for energy, pine straw

Agroforestry Practice: silvopasture

Tree canopies provide livestock with shade and wind protection and may yield additional 

income when the trees or tree products are harvested. The branches and leaves of some trees 

can be pruned from the trees and fed directly to livestock. Pine stands and nut and fruit 

orchards may be grazed to produce income before and while trees are bearing and growing.

This information sheet is adapted from “Discovering Profits in Unlikely Places: Agroforestry Opportunities for Added Income,” by 

Scott Josiah, 2000, University of Minnesota. www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/DD7407.html

Contact: USDA National Agroforestry Center, 402-437-5178 ext. 4011, fax 402-437-5172, 1945 N. 38th St., Lincoln, Nebraska 68583-0822. www.unl.edu/nac

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, Lincoln, NE. 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.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where 

applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an 

individual’s income is derived from any public assistance. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for 

communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call toll free 

866-632-9992 (voice). TDD users can contact USDA through local relay or the Federal relay at 800-877-8339 (TDD) or 866-377-8642 (relay voice). USDA is an equal 

opportunity provider and employer.

First Edition August 2012