Alley Cropping

chestnuts w wheat 2025 — Chestnuts with wheat

Also called intercropping, alley cropping is the planting of crops between rows of planted trees to maximize production on a given acreage and take advantage of different harvesting times and relationships between crops. This could be a mix of annuals and perennials, like an orchard with a wheat crop planted between the rows, or a fully perennial system of taller trees mixed with mid-story species like pawpaws and understory species like elderberries and medicinal herbs.

Title	Description
The Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri	The Center for Agroforestry at Mizzou offers an in-person and online master's degree program and a summer intensive certification course. Their website also hosts a growing library of technical guides and academic publications on many agroforestry topics.
Alley Cropping- US Forest Service	This page defines alley cropping and links to fact sheets, accessible publications, and scientific research provided by the National Agroforestry Center.
Chestnut Production w/ Dr. Michael Gold	This YouTube video shared by the University of Missouri is a 30-minute dive into chestnut production. It includes links to handouts and is part of a larger video series from 2020, the Virtual Chestnut Roast.
Alley Cropping Factsheet	This recent resource from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore details benefits of alley cropping and how UMES Extension supports alley cropping education.
The Overstory- Alley Cropping	This article from agroforestry.org provides a plain-language summary of much of the alley cropping information available from the National Agroforestry Center. The Overstory is a free agroforestry-focused journal edited and produced by the nonprofit Agroforestry Net, Inc.
Chest Fest 2025	Free chestnut harvesting festival in Carrollton, OH hosted by the Route 9 Chestnut Cooperative. Next dates are Fri, Oct 3rd-Sunday, Oct 5th 2025.
Route 9 Chestnut Cooperative	This cooperative of chestnut orchards in eastern Ohio has worked to improve chestnut genetics and marketing since 2009. Together they invested in sorting and cleaning equipment which allows them to harvest, package, and distribute the nuts themselves. Their facility is worth a visit if you live in the area!
Northern Nut Growers Association	NNGA is not agroforestry-specific, but has a long history of educating nut growers and sponsoring research grants that have advanced cultivation and marketing of crops common to agroforestry, such as black walnuts, chestnuts, and pawpaws. Its members meet annually.