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Agroecosystem Management Program

Ohio Agroforestry Summit

Agroforestry

Do you use trees as part of your land management strategy? Do you have a woodlot you'd like to do more with than just collect firewood? Are you curious about how trees could improve the value or performance of your land and/or livestock?  

If so, come join us at the Ohio Agroforestry Summit on March 7th, 2025! This free, one-day event will be held in Wooster, Ohio and is open to all (including farmers from outside the state). The day will feature practitioner speakers, round-table discussions to share expertise, networking opportunities, and hands-on workshops to develop your agroforestry skills.  

The Summit is supported by USDA funding through the grant, "Farms Branching Out: Expanding opportunities for agroforestry markets, connections, and conservation". This grant involves a team of researchers from the Ohio State University, Central State University, Michigan State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USDA Agriforestry Center, and US Forest Service. In addition to organizing outreach events, the team is using surveys and interviews to learn more about agroforestry practitioners across the three states.  

A  rough agenda for the 2025 Ohio Agroforestry Summit is below. Most of the day will be farmer-led discussion and presentations, and in the afternoon we will have a resource panel where you can ask questions about grant programs and other opportunities with state resources and nonprofits.  

Visit this page again for updates and more details about the Summit!  

Update 2/13: 

We are thrilled to share that interest in the Ohio Agroforestry Summit has exceeded our expectations. We still have plenty of room for everyone to participate, but our grant funding does have a limited capacity for lunch. We will work with our caterer to provide as many lunches as possible, but anyone who registers after Saturday, 2/15 cannot be guaranteed a meal. This is earlier than our initial deadline of March 3rd.

If you registered but are no longer planning to attend, please email edwards.2033@osu.edu so we can plan accordingly. Anyone who is planning to attend but has not yet registered should consider bringing a lunch or purchasing one in town (the venue is only five minutes from downtown Wooster, which has many great options!) We apologize for any inconvenience this news causes.  If we have a large number of cancellations, we will update those who register after 2/15.


The Ohio Agroforestry Summit

Friday, 7 March 2025

Schisler Conference Center in Wooster, OH

8:30 AM: Doors open, light breakfast and coffee available

9:00 AM: Welcome

9:15 AM-11:00 AM: Silvopasture/Forest Farming/Alley Cropping Speakers + Q&A

  • Cherrie Nolden- 1dr Acre Farms
  • Jono Neiger- Big River Chestnuts
  • Steve Gabriel- Wellspring Forest Farm

11:00 AM: Break

11:20 AM-12:30 PM: Networking Discussions for Ohio Agroforestry Practitioners (concurrent)

  • Forest farming, with Rick Felumlee and John Wright
  • Silvopasture, with Molly Sowash and Weston Lombard
  • Alley Cropping, Chris and Marykate Smyth

12:30 PM-1:30 PM: Lunch

1:30 PM-2:30 PM: Skill building sessions (concurrent)

  • Tree species selection and farm planning- Steve Gabriel
  • Fruit tree grafting 101- Weston Lombard
  • Mushroom log inoculation- Rick Felumlee

2:30 PM: Break

2:45 PM-3:45 PM: Ohio Resources and Opportunities Panel

3:50 PM-4:30 PM: Close-out and suggestions

4:30 PM-6:00 PM: Bonus field trip to Misty Oaks Farm with Kathy and Jeff Bielek