silvopasture

The word “agriculture” does not usually come to mind when one thinks of forests, but perhaps it’s time that it should. “The forest products industry employs nearly 1 million people and contributes $254 billion to America’s economy through sales and payroll,” said Eric Norland, a national program...

Sandra Cummings is an African American woman who is a part owner of two forested landscapes in Georgia. Her first property, 325 acres of land with a home in the city of Madison, was passed down by her maternal great-grandmother, who was born a slave. The second property consists of 165 acres of land...

“The Conservation Innovation Grant program has an impressive track record of fostering innovative conservation tools and strategies,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack as he announced $20 million in new funding for the program. “Successes in the program can translate into new opportunities for...

Lifelong farmer Hezekiah Gibson, and his wife Frances, farm 1,200 acres in Manning, South Carolina. They have been working with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service ( NRCS) for years to improve conservation on their farm. In 2013, the couple’s non-profit organization, United Farmers USA...

Today, farms in the U.S. are larger and have less nearby habitat to support bees than in the past, yet the need for pollinators in rural landscapes has never been greater. In light of concerns over pollinator declines, a Memorandum was released by President Obama on June 20, 2014, Creating a Federal...

Throughout his life, Chris Fields-Johnson has been keenly aware of the need to preserve the natural landscapes, which provide us with clean air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat. As a graduate student of soil science at Virginia State and Polytechnic University, a forestry undergraduate, a...