Agroforestry Future Directions Package Released

This report examines the future directions of agroforestry practices in British Columbia and recaps what came out of the Cultivating Sustainable Agroforestry workshop held on September 29, 2012, at the University of BC Farm. This workshop brought together people from various backgrounds and areas of interest, to discuss the current state of agroforestry in BC and the opportunities for the continued development of this land management practice.

The collaboration between 75 participants and 9 guest speakers made for a day of dynamic dialogue and new connections within the agroforestry community. Facilitated discussion allowed small groups to consider current challenges, successes and ideas of agroforestry in BC and an on-site agroforestry demonstration tour helped coalesce ideas from the day.

The document outlines the workshop proceedings and offers considerations and recommendations for moving agroforestry in BC forward. This document, and the agroforestry website that hosts it, comprise the Future Directions package.

Visit the Future Directions website, hosted by the UBC Farm : http://agroforestry.ubcfarm.ubc.ca/

Download your free copy of the Future Directions Package
 

Cultivating Sustainable Agroforestry Workshop Agenda

Saturday, 29 September 2012 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (PDT) at the UBC Farm, Vancouver, BC

9:00-10:00 – Registration

10:00-10:20 – Welcome and opening remarks

10:20 – 11:00 – David Trotter - David will give an overview of Agroforestry principals, look at the current agroforestry industry in BC, and touch on existing challenges and opportunities.

11:00-11:15 – Break

11:15-11:45 – Kelleen Wiseman - Kelleen will focus on the business planning and marketing tools that can be used to assess readiness and expansion potential of a farm business into the agroforestry area.

11:45-12:30 – Break-off groups: facilitated discussion – what are potential barriers to adopting agroforestry initiatives? Regulation or policy red tape? What concerns, challenges can we foresee? What processes/functions/frameworks does one need to better understand to successfully bring a product to market?

12:30-1:30 – Lunch (vegetarian and featuring produce from UBC Farm)

1:30-2:00 – Concurrent sessions

Peter Andres – Peter will provide an overview of the hazelnut industry, including current challenges and specifically EFB disease. He will discuss what the industry is doing to build itself up again and what this means in terms of opportunities for farmers looking to incorporate hazelnuts into their production.

Robin Clark and Taylor White -- Robin and Taylor will outline steps to assess the carbon footprint of an agroforestry or agriculture operation and discuss potential opportunities to integrate carbon sequestration into agroforestry strategies. Farm specific GHG calculator can be found here http://www2.cplan.org.uk/index.php?_load=page&_pageid=3 . Participants encouraged to visit this site prior to the conference.

2:00-2:30   – Concurrent sessions

Thom ODell –  Thom will discuss current research into new hazelnut varieties, what these new varieties offer in terms of yield and disease resistance, what growers can expect from new varieties, time from establishment to production and other characteristics.

David Bradbeer – David will introduce the idea of establishing native trees & shrubs on local farms, and what benefits (and challenges) these impart on the agroecosystem. Some focus will be given to ways of managing hedgerows for food production.

2:30- 3:20  Shannon Berch – Shannon will explore basic truffle biology, the methods used to produce and harvest them, and what success would look like in BC. Her presentation begins in the event tent and ends in the field.

3:20-3:30 Break

3:30-4:00 Scott Henderson – Scott will impart his knowledge of mushroom cultivation: How to produce mushrooms within an agroforestry framework, what varieties grow best/easiest/offer the best market value, what does one need to begin a cultivation enterprise, and more.

4:00-5:00 Facilitated discussion

Cultivating Sustainable Agroforestry Workshop

Saturday, 29 September 2012 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (PDT)

at the UBC Farm, Vancouver, BC

With consumers demanding higher standards of ethically and sustainably sourced products, and governments looking for carbon offset projects, we have an exciting opportunity to contribute to sustainable land use by combining trees with agriculture or gardens and concurrently generate new streams of income. While many agroforestry stakeholders and community members are already practicing sustainability, there are opportunities for new products and services and new financing mechanisms that are not well known in the farming community.

There is a general lack of intercommunity and public awareness, market access, communication, and exchange of ideas in this area that leaves significant gaps in the overall strength, vitality and innovation of the sustainable agroforestry sector. This is both a problem and an opportunity that is large in scope and involves a broad cross-section of industry, farmers, land managers, policy makers, small businesses and others.

This workshop will help agroforestry stakeholders put sustainability into practice on their lands.  It will facilitate discussion, networking, hands-on learning, demonstration, and an exchange of ideas across agroforestry sectors, cultures, agricultural fields, and generations.

At this workshop, the following agroforestry topics will be presented and discussed: small-scale production and marketing of timber and non-timber products and services, riparian and terrestrial buffers, emerging opportunities and technologies, removing barriers to market access, niche marketing strategies, and the role of regulation.

Delta Farmers and UBC Farm Cultivating Sustainable Agroforestry

With increased consumer demand for ethically and sustainably sourced products, and new markets with the emergence of carbon offsets, BC’s agricultural sector has an exciting opportunity to contribute to sustainable land use and generate new income streams.  While many agroforestry stakeholders and community members are already practicing sustainability, there are opportunities for new products and services and new financing mechanisms that are not well known in the farming community.  The lack of inter-community and public awareness, market access, communication, and exchange of ideas in this area leaves significant gaps in the overall strength, vitality and innovation of the agroforestry sector.

The Delta Farmers' Institute (DFI) in partnership with the University of British Columbia Farm (UBC Farm), and with funding from the British Columbia Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, will be hosting a workshop to start to address these gaps.  The workshop will facilitate discussion, networking, hands-on learning, demonstration, and an exchange of ideas across sectors, cultures and generations.  It will bring together a broad cross-section of farmers, land managers, policy makers, small businesses and others in BC’s lower-mainland, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands to help put sustainable agroforestry into practice on their lands.

The workshop, to be hosted at the UBC Farm in Vancouver, will be a forum to discuss small-scale production and marketing of timber and non-timber products and services, riparian and terrestrial buffers, emerging opportunities and technologies, removing barriers to market access, niche marketing strategies, and the role of regulation.  It will also include hands-on demonstration sessions covering forest farming, windbreak/hedgerow establishment, and managing a trial Mediterranean truffière.  Information presented at the workshop will be incorporated into a Future Directions package, a quick-reference guide that summarizes sustainable agroforestry trends, emerging opportunities, practices, marketing considerations, and challenges.

UBC Farm will host an agroforestry workshop

DFI is leading this project due to increasing awareness of, and interest in, the benefits of alternative sustainable opportunities such as agroforestry, among the regional farming community.  Agroforestry requires a long-term vision and commitment and DFI believes that building links between current and future generations of farmers is critical to our futures as successful land stewards.  Partnership with UBC Farm will enhance its organizational capacity, provide a working demonstration site with event hosting services, build on established partnerships with practitioners, researchers and policy-makers, and improve connections with students interested in careers in agroforestry and land stewardship.  The UBC Farm currently offers a wide range of interdisciplinary learning, research and community programs on site, while operating as a working food/fuel/fibre-production farm.

The Delta Farmers’ Institute was established in 1898 and is a non-government and non-profit farm producers’ organization.  DFI’s mandate includes supporting farmers working to increase conservation, greenbelt projects and production of alternative sustainable crops.  Most notably, DFI has been instrumental in supporting Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust’s establishment of roughly 18,000 m² of hedgerows, and riparian and terrestrial buffers throughout Delta.