Rapid Field Assessments
ADAPT’s first task was to better understand the current state of agroforestry in New England, as this was considered an essential foundation on which to build the rest of the program. During Summer 2024, we conducted rapid field assessments on 32 agroforestry farms throughout New England, which included collecting data on biophysical, social, and economic factors associated with each farm. The sites included silvopastures, food forests, and forest farms that had been established for at least 5 years and varied in management, climate, and size (0.5 - 250 acres). This diverse range of sites provided ADAPT with foundational knowledge about established agroforestry systems that currently exist in New England, as well as some of the factors that have helped make them successful and key challenges that agroforestry farmers face in our region.
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Silvopasture by Subtraction
Apple Creek Farm -
Rapid Field Assessment
Boston Food Forest Coalition's Edgewater Food Forest
Cooperator Farms
ADAPT is partnering with twelve Cooperators across New England, including farmers, woodland owners, and land trusts, to conduct field trials of different agroforestry systems on their land. In addition to university experimental sites, these Cooperator sites will help generate data that can inform agroforestry design and adoption in New England and also serve as educational demonstration sites.
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Food Forest and Forest Farming Workshop
University Experimental Sites
ADAPT research teams are developing field experiments to improve our understanding of agroforestry systems in New England. These experiments include food forest, forest farming, and silvopasture research plots based near Dartmouth College, the University of New Hampshire, and Yale University. University locations differ in climate, soil, topography, and land use history. These experiments aim to provide insight on how to best design, implement, and manage temperate agroforestry systems suitable to the New England landscape.
The food forest experiments investigate the role of different proportions of nitrogen fixing and non-nitrogen fixing plants in the success of food forests. Nitrogen fixing plants, including herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees, host bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen to a usable form for plants. Food forest success is measured as crop health (establishment, growth, damage, survival) and ecosystem services (carbon storage, soil quality, water resources, community benefits).
The forest farming experiments investigate the relationship between soil, light, and the early growth and establishment of promising forest farming crops in New England. These experiments involve planting understory agroforestry crops into canopy openings created as part of silvicultural practices, aiming to integrate agroforestry crops with timber production. Our work addresses the management of shade and root competition between the understory agroforestry crops and the surrounding trees as well as evaluates crop responses to microclimate gradients across forest gaps.
The silvopasture experiments explore the performance of this agroforestry system under two establishment approaches: the addition of trees to open pasture and the subtraction of trees from a forest. The pasture conversion (addition) experiments investigate the potential advantages and disadvantages to using different tree species, such as chestnut, walnut, and pear varieties. The forest conversion (subtraction) experiments investigate the effectiveness of different management practices, such as slash removal, liming, and forage mixtures, in successful silvopasture establishment. Silvopasture performance is measured as crop health (trees, forages), soil quality, and impacts on diverse ecosystem services.
