A potential environmental game-changer, agroforestry has so far been overlooked and under-incentivised, according to a US farming group, but the upcoming farm bill is an opportunity to switch up the rules.
Not-for-profit Agroforestry Coalition released a policy paper on Wednesday that advocates for the integration of trees into US farming systems to be enshrined in the upcoming US Farm Bill to achieve climate, nature, and economic returns.
“Agroforestry could transform the US agriculture sector for the better,” said Kitt Healy, strategy director of the Agroforestry Coalition.
“If agroforestry is incorporated into the farm bill, farmers and ranchers will get the information and support they need to integrate agroforestry into their operations, consequently strengthening their resilience overall.”
The term “agroforestry” can cover a range of practices that integrate trees and shrubs into agricultural production systems, including alley cropping with timber trees, silvopasture, and through planting windbreaks.
By adopting agroforestry techniques, farmers can increase yield and income from multiple products as well as contribute to environmental objectives including boosting biodiversity and carbon storage, the group said.
Currently, the US Department of Agriculture has invested $150 million in support of agroforestry, from a total of $2.8 billion from its Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities programme, according to the Agroforestry Coalition.
However, the group believes that by explicitly including agroforestry in the upcoming bill, many of the barriers to scale could be reduced.
Those barriers include a lack of federal technical assistance and outreach, limited demonstration sites, few producer incentive schemes, a lack of seedlings and germplasm, limited product processing facilities for small-scale growers, and major research gaps.
The US Farm Bill is the largest policy mechanism affecting US agriculture, its scope covers policy actions across a number of land issues, including commodity programmes, conservation, nutrition, credit, research, and forestry.
The previous Farm Bill includes a number of incentives for conservation under its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which funds producers to deliver environmental benefits including creating wildlife habitat, reducing soil erosion, and conserving groundwater.
Under EQIP, the USDA provides between $12.5-25 mln in annual grants for “conservation innovation” on agricultural land.
However, agroforestry has not been explicitly included in previous farm bills or EQIP funding, the last one signed by former President Trump in 2018.
As agroforestry systems have a payback lag time, usually between 7-10 years as trees mature, financial incentives are often touted as one of the largest barriers to adoption.
The full list of ten policy recommendations outlined by the Agroforestry Coalition includes:
- Create a standard definition of “agroforestry” across federal programmes
- Direct USDA to develop a technical assistance programme specific to agroforestry systems
- Authorise at least three new regional agroforestry centres to complement the National Agroforestry Center
- Adjust the Conservation Reserve Program to establish a new agroforestry initiative
- Prioritise silvopasture (combined livestock and tree practices) within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program
- Add agroforestry systems to the list of new or innovative approaches that EQIP Conservation Innovation Grants may support
- Adjust the Conservation Stewardship Program to make perennial agroforestry systems eligible for supplemental payments and establish region-specific agroforestry practice bundles
- Support regional tree seed and seedling supply chains to meet increasing interest in adopting agroforestry practices
- Support local marketing of agroforestry products within the Local Agriculture Market Program
- Authorise a National Agroforestry Survey every five years
By Tom Woolnough – tom@carbon-pulse.com
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