Date of Award

Summer 8-16-2024

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Plant Science

Advisor

Rachel E. Schattman

Second Committee Member

Bryan Peterson

Third Committee Member

Kathleen P. Bell

Abstract

Agroforestry, the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes, supports biodiverse ecological communities, protects soil and water resources, and offers economic, social, and cultural benefits to farmers. As a natural climate solution (NCS), agroforestry can increase or maintain carbon storage on working lands while maintaining a productive landscape. Rooted in indigenous and subsistence farming practices, agroforestry is widely practiced in tropical regions, though adoption is limited in temperate regions. Currently, there is ample support for scaling up agroforestry adoption in the United States, demonstrated by an increase in public funding for Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry (CSAF) practices and heightened organizational engagement from federal, state, non-profit, and private groups. However, adoption of agroforestry is limited by a shortage of technical assistance, high up-front investment costs, and access to plant material. The last of these limitations is arguably the least understood. This research, therefore, seeks to fill a critical knowledge gap regarding the shortage of plant material for agroforestry through qualitative engagement with the primary producers of plant materials: nursery managers. This study addresses two main research questions: 1) What are the potential barriers to scaling up plant production for agroforestry at privately-owned nurseries? and 2) How do nursery managers assess future demand for plant material and manage the risks associated with production? During indepth, semi-structured interviews, nursery managers from 19 businesses in 15 US states shared insights about personal business decisions, industry-wide barriers such as labor shortages and rising costs of production, and the personal values and critical information that guide future plant production. In this study, participant recruitment was limited to privately operated businesses, but state, federal, tribal, and non-profit nurseries play central roles in plant production and should be considered for future studies. In the pursuit to paint a more comprehensive picture of challenges to plant production, a parallel study targeting federal nurseries was developed and conducted by Dr. Samantha Bosco at the USDA National Agroforestry Center. The findings of this parallel study address similar research questions and will complement the results described in this paper. To broaden adoption of agroforestry across the U.S. landscape, plant material supplies must increase. The majority of study participants reported that difficulty recruiting and retaining quality labor and uncertainty about demand were the primary barriers to increasing production. Despite these challenges, participants indicated that with clear and demonstrated demand for plant material, the appropriate growing conditions at their nursery, and enough time to plan ahead, nursery managers would be willing to produce for agroforestry. To make decisions about future product mix and production volumes for planting stock, interviewees reported primarily relying on records of previous sales and customer feedback. When assessing future demand for plant material, growers emphasized the importance of long-term customer relationships, which were critical to reducing risks of production

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