[Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder is an investor in Propagate.]
A coalition of sustainable agriculture organizations has secured a $24.6 million award from the United States Department of Agriculture to advance agroforestry and reforestation in five states in the Mississippi River Basin — one of the most critical conservation areas in the US.
Led by agroforestry startup Propagate, the project will address water quality degradation and inadequate habitats for fish, wildlife and invertebrates, says Propagate cofounder and CEO Ethan Steinberg.
The investment comes from USDA agency Natural Resources Conservation Service under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
Propagate has, since its inception in 2017, worked to address the barriers to agroforestry adoption. The startup’s Overyield IT platform helps farmers understand what to plant on their land, how much that will cost, and how to go about it. The company also provides expertise, tree stock, and even financing options.
Joining Propagate for this new project are Virginia Tech, Rodale Institute, Living Carbon, Agroforestry Partners, Williams Forestry, Native Forest Nursery, Hill Farms and Ohio Land & Cattle.
‘A really practical solution for farmland’
A key goal of the project is to “make it easier and more accessible for agroforestry to be an option” for farmers, according to Steinberg.
Adoption of agroforestry remains low in the United States, with just 1.7% of farmers integrating it into their operations according to the 2022 Agricultural Census.
Barriers to adoption run the gamut, from initial costs to land access to skill sets.
At the same time, Steinberg sees agroforestry as “a really practical solution for farmland,” and says it’s “incredible to see the USDA and the NRCS pushing some momentum towards one of the regenerative ag practices.”
“If we go back five years, there was a much larger question mark about whether or not agroforestry was a practice on the radar. The USDA has always had an agroforestry center, but I think this is the first of what’s hopefully many sizable initiatives.”
A ‘critical conservation area’
The Mississippi River Basin, also known simply as MARB, is the third-largest drainage basin in the world (after the Amazon and Congo basins), providing water for crops, drinking, industry, and recreation to a large portion of the US. Census data estimates roughly 30% of Americans living in the MARB, which is an important wildlife habitat.
Human activity has degraded the region, however. Water quality is “top of the list” in terms of challenges for the region due to nutrient runoff and sedimentation from agricultural activities.
“The region faces farmland loss through erosion, diminished capacity for water storage, sediment capture — there’s a lot going on there,” says Steinberg.
Agroforestry and reforestation can help mitigate those challenges and lead to improved soil porosity, enhanced soil stability, and reduced sedimentation, he adds.
“We wanted to build a project around that critical conservation area but really focus it on addressing resource concerns in that region around water quality degradation and [the region being] an inadequate habitat for fish and wildlife and invertebrates.”
How the project works
The project will lease farmland from eligible producers, with a special emphasis on underserved farmers, and plant agroforestry or reforestation systems on the parcels.
It will employ a number of different NRCS conservation practices including alley cropping, silvopasture, windbreak-shelterbelt establishment, and riparian forest buffers, to name a few. The goal is to enhance on-farm water-holding capacity while simultaneously reducing erosion, improving wildlife habitats and boosting carbon storage, says Steinberg.
The land-leasing model is something Propagate implemented to overcome some of the low adoption rates of agroforestry, he adds.
“The [USDA] award was building on the things that we’ve put in market that are working well, that are helping increase the adoption rate, helping meet farmers where they’re at and provide the appropriate financial compensation for the initial five-year rental period, which is how this grant or award is structured.”
The five-year contracts can insure stability while growers transition their land to agroforestry or reforestation systems. After five years, they can opt for longer-term (20-plus years) leases or participate in carbon-removal programs.
The project will monitor water quality, biodiversity, soil carbon and tree carbon sequestration.
‘It’s part of our strategy to be everywhere, all the time’
Steinberg provided the following description of each organization’s role in the project:
- Virginia Tech: Outreach to underserved producers and water quality advisory
- Rodale Institute: Outcome monitoring for water, tree, and soil quality
- Living Carbon: Reforestation planning, implementation, and producer outreach
- Agroforestry Partners: Farm rental advisory and outreach
- Williams Forestry: Tree planting, protection, and monitoring
- Native Forest Nursery: Nursery stock procurement
- Hill Farms: Farmer to farmer outreach and education
- Ohio Land & Cattle: Farmer to farmer outreach and education
“It’s part of our strategy as a business to be everywhere, all the time, so that we can make it easier or more accessible for agroforestry to be an option,” says Steinberg.
To do that, Propagate has leveraged partnerships with these organizations and others over the last few years.
“This program is an example of one of those [partnerships] where you’re mitigating some of the stress and risk when you’re chatting with farmers, and also having a much broader set of folks engaged in the business of agroforestry,” says Steinberg.
“There are multiple organizations who see the opportunity, they’re willing to lean into it, share some of the risk of engaging in the actual transition of land. To me, that kind of speaks for itself.”
