Past North American Agroforestry Conferences abstracts and manuscripts
Since 1989, the North American Agroforestry Conference series has been co-sponsored by the Association for Temperate Agroforestry and is held every two years. According to AFTA's website, the conference is "a major scientific forum for those involved in agroforestry research, extension and application in the US, Canada and overseas".
AFTA defines agroforestry as "an intensive land management system that optimizes the benefits from the biological interactions created when trees and/or shrubs are deliberately combined with crops and/or livestock. There are five basic types of agroforestry practices today in the North America":
- Windbreaks
- Alley cropping
- Silvopasture
- Riparian buffers
- Forest farming
In 2009, AFTA celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the conference. The theme was "Agroforestry Comes of Age: Putting Science into Practice" and supported AFTA's mission to "Promote the wider adoption of agroforestry by landowners in temperate regions of North America". Chris and Jen Cunnigham of the Jay Springs Lamb Company gave the first keynote address titled "Sheep, Trees and Direct Marketing in British Columbia". The second keynote was given by Nicola McPherson of Ozark Forest Mushrooms and was titled "From the Hills of the Ozarks to the Bistros of St. Louis".
The 12th North American Agroforestry Conference was held in Athens, Georgia in 2011. The theme was "Agroforestry: A Profitable Land Use". According to the foreward given by Sarah Workman and David Moorhead, "The 2011 biennial conference [highlighted] agroforestry research, implementation, policy, education, and entrepreneurial opportunities across North America". The keynote speakers were:
- Kathleen Merrigan, deputy Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Jamshed Mercange, Assistant Deputy Minister Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Dennis Garrity, Director General, World Agroforestry Centre
The 13th North American Agroforestry Conference was in 2013 and was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. According to Chris Pharo and John Kort (co-chairs of the 13th NAAC Committee), the conference "featured over sixty oral presentations as well as over 25 poster presentations covering the range of agroforestry subjects such as riparian buffers, alley cropping and inter-cropping, greenhouse gas mitigation, non-timber forest products and silvopasture". The Poplar Council of Canada also joined the conference and in addition, held their 35th annual general meeting.
In 2015, the 14th North American Agroforestry Conference will be held in Ames, Iowa, USA.