Can you grow trees and grain together?

Can you grow trees and grain on the same acre?

Alley cropping is the practice of growing crops such as grain, hay, or vegetables in between rows of trees or shrubs. The trees can also be crops, and this type of agroforestry allows a farmer to take advantage of the vertical space on their land. It turns more sunlight into profit, but only if done well. We have to put enough space between the tree rows, and pair the right trees with the right crops.

Won’t the trees shade out the crops?

If trees are planted closely together, they’ll shade out the grain or grass, especially corn and other C4 species. If the trees are far enough apart, they can actually increase crop yields due to wind and sun protection. Soy and wheat are less sensitive to shade, and cool season grasses can grow better under partial shade. Trees come in all sizes, and they also vary in profitability and management requirements. In order to make alley cropping work, the trees have to fit with the long-term goals of the farmer. The first question we have to ask is whether we’re going to grow grain for the next 30 years, or the next 5 years, until the trees grow larger.

Permanent vs. Transitional Alley Cropping

When alley cropping is a permanent practice, the trees will stay standing and we will continue to grow grain over the long term. This usually means that the tree rows will be farther apart, so that they don’t shade the grain enough to considerably reduce yield. In the eastern United States where it rains and snows, you need 130-140 feet between tree rows to maintain grain production.

Ferme Bertco, a dairy farm in Québec, grows hybrid poplar and hardwoods. David Rivest of The University of Québec at Outaouais has shown that there is no significant decrease in alfalfa or soy yields compared to the adjacent field that does not contain trees.

Wheat is alley cropped with permanent walnut trees in Occitanie, in Southern France. The walnut trees are managed for nut production. Photo: AROOF.

Alley cropping as a transitional practice means that a farmer will produce grain or hay between tree rows, until the trees cast enough shade that it no longer makes financial sense to do so. We see this done with transitions to silvopasture (trees plus livestock) or nut-crop production. Transitional alley cropping can make sense anywhere from the tropics to Minnesota. It is a good fit for farmers moving from grain to permanent crops such as chestnuts, or for any grass-based cattle operation that makes hay. 

In Maysville, Kentucky, Hill Farms, Propagate, and Agroforestry Partners harvest hay across 1,860 acres of chestnuts.

Route 9 Chestnut Cooperative’s oldest trees are 50 years old. Pictured: Eliza Greenman harvests nuts in October of 2020.

Alley cropping can increase farm profitability.

Sometimes we’ll say that “the grain is the checking account, and the trees are the investment.” If we want to understand profitability over the long term, we have to put annual yields and tree yields in the same spreadsheet. Profit today is worth more than profit in the future, because it’s available to us, but we can still compare and combine them using interest rates. If we run the 20-year financial projections, alley cropping with valuable tree species yields a higher net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) compared to growing annual crops without trees. If a farmer is open to running equipment between tree rows, alley cropping is a great opportunity.

Black locust alley cropping, Gödöllő, Hungary.

Black locust yields rot-resistant fence posts after 8-10 years, which can produce more revenue per acre than corn or soy in many regions. Black locust is best suited to farmers that are interested in pruning and harvesting trees in the winter, and selling fence posts.

This is the classic alley cropping photo, of wheat harvesting between poplar trees. This photo is from France, where lumber is three times more expensive than it is in the United States, so when a 2x4 costs $12, growing wood makes more economic sense. In mediterranean France, similar to central California, winter wheat completes the important part of its growth cycle (anthesis) before the trees have leafed out. This means that the trees and grain don’t directly compete. In cold climates, where grass and grain don’t grow over the winter, trees create a zero-sum situation. 

Farm decisions are made for more reasons than money. Financially, alley cropping pencils out really well, but it’s relatively uncommon due to logistics. The most common reason that farmers don’t plant trees is that it adds more complexity to farming grain. Reasons include only being able to till in one direction, getting a branch caught in the seeder, or having to match implement width to tree spacing. Long term profit has to make up for operational setbacks, and often it does.

Alley cropping increases land productivity, and we have to define production. Proponents of alley cropping will talk about its “overyield” effect, meaning that total production per acre of crops and trees grown together will exceed production of crops and trees grown on separate fields. We can break out productivity with three C’s: Calories, Capital, and Carbon.

✅ Calories: The goal of farming is to grow food for humanity.
✅ Capital: Farming is a business, and farmers expect to provide for their families by turning a profit and creating wealth.
✅ Carbon: Trees yield ecosystem services, such as water filtration, flood mitigation, and biodiversity. At minimum, carbon can be an indicator for environmental benefit.

Farming is done within a set of values, and a land manager has to weigh their decisions accordingly. Alley cropping is a great way to grow food, turn a healthy profit, and steward land.

Alley Cropping: A Smart Way to Manage Land

Alley cropping is an effective way for farmland owners to combine short-term profitability with long-term investments. By integrating trees and crops, farmers can create diverse income streams, improve land productivity, and build resilience against extreme weather.

Farmers exploring alley cropping should plan carefully—tree species selection, row spacing, and crop management all play crucial roles in success. Working with an experienced agroforestry partner can simplify the process and ensure stronger financial outcomes.

Conclusion

When financial projections are modeled, the data shows that alley cropping—when done well—can outperform grain or tree systems alone in terms of Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR). The deciding factor often comes down to a farmer’s willingness to manage trees and adjust their day-to-day operations accordingly.

For farmers looking to plant trees and diversify their land use, the opportunity is there.