We marvel at the windbreaks, silvopasture, and native fruits of Patagonia. Argentina grows similar crops to The United States, their ecology a partial mirror of our own, but their economic climate is very different. Sometimes the grass is greener, but the region is not without its challenges. Extreme winds, drought, and fire blur the line between chaos and beauty, but persistent creativity permeates farms and society.

Agroforestry is gaining momentum. One of the simplest ways to get started? Integrating trees with hay in an alley-cropping system. By planting trees in wide rows with hay growing in between, farmers and landowners can maintain annual hay production while investing over the long-term.

7 takeaways for syntropic farming in higher latitudes. 

How can we adapt what we see in Brazil? Syntropic agroforestry achieves accelerated forest succession, while producing food, via the strategic and rapid accrual of biomass. The practice has become popular in the tropics, but syntro looks exceedingly different in cold climates.

Pruning chestnuts is critical to maintain tree health and productivity, but perspectives on best-practices vary. Dive into our outline of some basics, highlights on different approaches, and share some of our favorite resources to help you get started.

Agroforestry is the integration of trees and farming. The practice is currently regarded as somewhat avant-garde in the United States, and those interested in agroforestry are generally open-minded people with an above-average risk tolerance. Here we’ll look at which of the “Big 5” dimensions of personality seem to define the typical agroforester. 

$24.6 million RCPP investment from USDA-NRCS brings together leaders in agroforestry and sustainable agriculture to drive water quality improvements and biodiversity on working lands in 5 states on the Mississippi River Basin.

Cattle and sheep will browse the green leaves and twigs of small trees and shrubs. These plants can serve as value forage when the grass isn’t growing, and over the long run can be an important part of a farm’s bottom line.

Propagate recently contracted a third party to collect biodiversity data across 20 sample sites on 2 farms in Mason county, Kentucky. The sites were selected based on production crops and system age: chestnut-hay agroforestry systems at different maturity levels were benchmarked against a conventional soy baseline. These measurements will help us understand the impact of agroforestry practices on local ecology.

Animals, like people, have a zone of thermal comfort, beyond which it is difficult to thrive. In a warming world, summer highs will continue pushing the boundaries of this window of tolerance, threatening animal welfare, productivity and farm income. To mitigate these losses, producers are looking to trees: the protective shade they cast, the fodder they provide, and the economic and ecological benefits they offer the landscape. Learn what trees work well to provide shade quickly, and what the benefits to your farm can look like.

Inc. revealed today that Propagate ranks No. 723 on the 2024 Inc. 5000, its annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The prestigious ranking provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Microsoft, Meta, Chobani, Under Armour, Timberland, Oracle, Patagonia, and many other household-name brands gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. 

Grass-fed beef and dairy are hot right now, both in the media, and outside in the July sun. Cattle operations need perimeter fence, and fencing is expensive. Growing your own black locust trees is a great investment, yielding rot-resistant fenceposts, shade for livestock, and other benefits such as wind protection. Learn more about the cost benefit for this use case of black locust, and how to get started growing your own ‘wood bank’ to support farm operations.

Every year, the consequences of plant pathogens are profound: up to 40% yield losses for important staple crops like rice, corn and soy; $220 billion lost across the global economy; and a human toll that is difficult to quantify (He, 2020). Invasive species like Cryphnoectria parasitica, or Chestnut Blight, have altered ecosystems at massive scales across countries and continents. Though every species has its own risk profile, certain crops appear better adapted to threats than others. In this article we’ll examine the pathogenic risks associated with Chinese Chestnut, dive into specific diseases that impact chestnuts, discuss methods of prevention to ensure success, and highlight lessons learned from our work across over 1,850 acres of chestnuts.

In our last post, we discussed the market opportunity for chestnuts, an emerging perennial staple crop for the Eastern United States. The post below provides an introduction to the unit economics of chestnuts, including factors and risks impacting yield, pricing, and farm-level profitability.

Minimizing risk is part and parcel to planning agroforestry systems. In this article, we share lessons learned from our experience helping 30+ farms adopt agroforestry, and unravel the “how” and “why” of agroforestry system design, implementation and management.

As 2020’s midwest derecho swept across the Corn Belt, farmers and landowners alike witnessed the profound toll extreme weather can take on agriculture. With 12 million acres affected, and 1.7 billion dollars in damages within the agrifood sector alone, this startling event was a wake-up call for many, harkening back to Dust Bowl era weather that led to famine, acute poverty, and mass rural exodus.

Fortunately, shelterbelts, windbreaks, and agroforestry can mitigate the damage of extreme weather on farms.

Once a staple food and timber source throughout the Eastern US, the American chestnut was the dominant hardwood tree from Georgia to Maine before C. parasitica (chestnut blight) decimated an estimated 4 billion trees in the first half of the 20th century.

Today, the United States is well-positioned to expand production of chestnuts to support growing demand from both US and global consumers. In this post, we’ll outline the investment case for chestnut agroforestry systems and review the historical and current market dynamics that inform why chestnuts represent a worthwhile opportunity for farmers and farmland asset managers alike.

If we reforest subprime agricultural land in the hills, how do the valleys benefit? Forests slow floodwaters, but don’t produce much food. Storm runoff from cropland swells the creeks and washes out roads, but food security and rural jobs are important. An array of tree species in North America can overcome this tradeoff, yielding flood control, agricultural products, and on-farm economic benefit.

Cattle and forests are often at odds, but they don’t always have to be. We can have our beef and eat it too. Silvopasture is defined as the intentional integration of trees, forage, and livestock: it consists of either planting trees in pasture or cropland, or thinning forest to establish grass growth.

Trees can be the single most impactful tool at a farm’s disposal. When planted and managed well, trees can reduce operational risks associated with water pollution, reduce input costs, and provide alternative streams of income. In this article, we’ll explores the hidden costs of inaction, the multi-faceted benefits trees bring to farms and waterways, and how to realize these benefits without bearing the costs alone.

Investment managers are funneling capital into U.S. farmland at an increasing rate. Since 2008, the number of properties owned by such firms has increased 231% according to NCREIF's quarterly farmland index. Why? Farmland is resilient to inflation, offers stable returns through land leases and has limited downside risk.

With the increased attention comes fresh ideas to develop the asset class. Propagate works with asset managers to understand, plan and manage investments in permanent tree crops. These practices enhance the value of farmland and provide a number of other ecosystem benefits.