The University of Missouri’s Center for Agroforestry is holding its 16th Agroforestry Symposium: Working Lands for Restoration and Harvest on Jan. 30 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the center for Missouri Studies in Columbia, Mo. The symposium will feature insightful and intersectional voices on the realities of landscape-scale transformations made possible when agroforestry practices are designed for simultaneous conservation, restoration and production goals.
Ranjith Udawatta, research professor at the University of Missouri’s School of Natural Resources, will deliver the keynote on his decades of research on agroforestry as a conservation strategy to enhance soil and water quality on farms and in communities.
“In my nearly thirty years with the Center for Agroforestry, perennial agriculture systems have emerged as a key pathway for integrating production with conservation and restoration frameworks for the simultaneous benefit of producing nutritious food while restoring ecosystem health,” said Udawatta.
Presenters from across the nation will address how ecosystem services are valued in these systems, share experiences in harmonizing restoration and harvest and discuss the deep roots of these integrated practices.
“There is growing recognition that conservation and productivity are not mutually exclusive; they must go hand-in-hand. We allbenefit when working lands mimic the structure, resilience and abundance of region-specific ecosystems,” said Hannah Hemmelgarn, assistant director of the Center for Agroforestry. “The presenters we will welcome at the 2025 symposium are leading the way in studying and demonstrating how this synergy is possible.”
The Symposium is free and open to the public with options to participate in-person at the State Historic Society of Missouri Center for Missouri Studies located at 605 Elm St., Columbia, Mo. or virtually via Zoom. Registration is required for all participants.
In addition, the Center for Agroforestry invites natural resource professionals, producers and other land stewards to a participatory workshop on January 29, 2025 from 1 pm to 5 pm for the Working Lands Learning Circle. Workshop sessions will focus on applications of agroforestry as restoration, including facilitation on the use of prescribed fire, creative land financing, silvopasture planning, and ecosystem services economics. Registration for the Learning Circle is separate from the Symposium.
Established in 1998, the Center for Agroforestry seeks to understand the science and practice of agroforestry, the integration of trees and shrubs with crops or livestock on farms of all scales. Through research, outreach, and educational programs, the Center has developed an enduring reputation as a critical source of information on agroforestry and perennial specialty crops for Missouri, the Midwest region, and beyond. The Center’s generation of insights on the science behind agroforestry and its collaborative work to translate those advancements into accessible training programs has resulted in new profitable specialty crop industries, such as chestnut and elderberry, for farms throughout the region.