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Non-Timber
Not
Non-Profit
Richard Straight
US Forest Service
USDA National Agroforestry Center
Lincoln, NE
Tri-State Forest Stewardship Conference
March 12, 2011 / Sinsinawa, WI
Non-Timber Forest
Products• Originate from forest plants and fungi, not
timber-based, may be tree-based
• Fungi, moss, lichen, ground covers, herbs,
shrubs, trees
• Roots, tubers, leaves, barks, twigs, fruits,
fungi, pollen, sap and resin, wood
• From within and on edges of natural,
manipulated or disturbed forests
Other Names
• Special Forest Products
– Forest Service (National Strategy)
• Forest Botanical Products
– U.S. Congress
– Any naturally occurring mushrooms, fungi, flowers, seeds, roots, bark, leaves, and other vegetation (or portion thereof) that grow on National Forest System lands.
• Other Names
– Non-Wood Forest Products (UN, FAO)
– Non-traditional
– Secondary
– Minor
Categories of NTFPs
• Edible & Culinary
– Mushrooms, berries, ramps, nuts
• Crafts
– Walking sticks, bowls, jewelry
• Floral Decoratives
– fresh/dried flowers, aromatic oils, greenery,
basket filler, wreaths, and roping
• Medicinal & Dietary Supplements
Product Categories
• Product Markets
– Herbal Medicines
– Forest Foods & Culinaries
– Crafts & Sundries
– Floral Decoratives
USDA National Agroforestry Center
UNL-East Campus
Lincoln, Nebraska 68583
NAC is a USDA partnership:
• U.S. Forest Service (Research & Development and
State & Private Forestry)
• Natural Resources
Conservation Service
USDA National Agroforestry
Center (NAC)
What is Agroforestry?
…the intentional combining of agriculture and working trees to
create sustainable farms.
Agroforestry isn’t ----
conversion of agricultural lands to forests, rather it leaves them in production agriculture
Why Agroforestry?
• Clean water and air • Safe and healthy food• Abundant wildlife • Beautiful places• Clean renewable energy• Sustainable family farms
If you are interested in:
Agroforestry Practices
Putting the right plant, in the right place, for the right purpose!
Alley Cropping
Riparian Forest
Buffers
Silvopasture Forest Farming
Windbreaks Special
Applications
Benefits:• Increase crop protection
and production
• Economic diversification
• Better nutrient utilization
• Improve soil and water quality
Alley Cropping
FloralsMushrooms
Benefits:• Diversify income• Increase cash flow
Ginseng
Forest Farming
Medicinals
Decoratives & CraftsFoods
Benefits:
• Increase pollination
• Increase crop yields
• Reduce crop damage
• Increase crop quality
• Earlier fruit production
• Reduce disease potential
Windbreaks
• Lower animal stress
• Reduce wildfire risk
•Reduce risk of beetle attack
• Improved wildlife habitat
Benefits:• Annual grazing income (also: hay, pine straw, hunting)• Long-term timber income
Silvopasture
Benefits:
• Clean water
• Fish and wildlife habitat
• Streambank stability
• Flood protection
• Potential income source (lumber and specialty products)
Riparian Forest Buffer
Agroforestry on the farm
Medicinal & Dietary Supplements
Black cohosh (Acteae racemosa)
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium)
• Popular
• High Demand
• Conservation concern
• International Markets
Opportunity
Medicinal Products and Dietary
Supplements
Common Name Botanical Nomenclature
Black Cohosh
Actaea racemosa
Stone Root, Canada Horse-Balm Collinsonia canadensis
Common Boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum
Wild Crane’s Bill Geranium maculatum
Witch Hazel
Hamamelis virginiana
Wild Hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens
Goldenseal
Hydrastis canadensis
Ginseng
Panax quinquefolius
Common Pokeweed Phytolacca Americana
Wild Black Cherry Prunus serotina
Bloodroot
Sanguinaria canadensis
Sassafras
Sassafras albidium
Saw Palmetto Serenoa repens
Red Clover Trifolium pratense
Medicinal Products and Dietary
Supplements
Common Name Botanical Nomenclature
Spikenard Aralia racemosa
Blue Cohosh
Caulophyllum thalictroides
Star Grub, Devil’s Bit, False Unicorn
Chamelirium luteum
Wild Yam, Yellow Yam Dioscorea villosa
Sweet Joe-Pye Weed E. purpureum
Black Walnut
Juglans nigra
Indian Tobacco Lobelia inflata
Running Pine, Princess Pine Lycopodium clavatum
Common Solomon’s Seal, Giant S.S. Polygonatum biflorum
Smooth Sumac R. glabra
Red Raspberry Rubus idaeus
Bethroot
Trillium erectum
Slippery Elm
Ulmus rubra
Smooth Black-Haw Viburnum prunifolium
Medicinal Products and Dietary
Supplements
Common Name Botanical Nomenclature
Sweetflag Acorus americanus, A. calamus
Maidenhair Fern Adiantum peltatum
Star Grass Aletris farinose
Wild Sarsparilla Aralia nudicaulis
Virginia Snakeroot Aristolochia serpentaria
Wild Ginger Asarum canadensis
Sweet Birch Betula lenta
Teaberry Gaultheria procumbens
Butternut Juglans cinera
Partridge Berry Mitchella repens
Wild Bergamot Bee-Balm Monarda fistulosa
White Pine Pinus strobus
Broad-leaved Plantain Plantago rugelii
Mayapple
Podophyllum peltatum
Seneca Snakeroot Polygala senega
White Oak Quercus alba
Fragrant Sumac Rhus aromatica
Elderberry Sambucus Canadensis
Maddog Skullcap Scutellaria integrifolia
Skunk Cabbage Symplocarpus foetidus
Culver’s Root Veronicastrum virginicus
Edible & Culinary
Midwestern US* Specialty Fruit
Markets
Chokecherry 52,524 4,300 56,824 $71,000
Elderberry 8,100 81,095 89,195 $67,000
Sand Cherry 800 20,000 20,800 $20,800
American Plum 4,458 11,100 15,558 $19,500
Currants 3,220 3,400 6,620 $6,940
Mulberry 720 4,000 4,720 $4,720
Hawthorn 4,500 0 4,500 $4,500
Buffaloberry 1,987 150 2,137 $3,206
Gooseberry 2,030 0 2,030 $2,030
Saskatoon 750 200 950 $950
Totals 79,089 126,265 205,334 $205,020
Jam/Jelly Wine Total $ US
Species (lbs) (lbs) (lbs) Value
*2001 Survey of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, & S. Dakota
Edible Mushrooms
Grow for Local Foods Market
Grow Organic
Ramps (Allium tricoccum)
• Edible leaves, bulb
• Sales over the internet,
farmers markets,
restaurants
• Well-drained soils, high
organic matter
• Natural stands of beech,
sugar maple, poplar
• May take 6 years from
seed
• Products
– Honey -- 175-200 kg per year per hive
– Wax
– Propolis – medicine
– Pollinators
• Equipment
– Specialized
• Frames, excluders, supers
• Access to water, shelter from wind
Forest Farming for Bees
Forest Farming for Syrup
• More than just sugar
maple
– Big leaf maple, birch
• Sugar maple highest
sugar content
• Lots of skills needed
• $112 million in 2004
Crafts & Sundries
Manage Vines
• Smokevine, Grape,
Kudzu, Bittersweet
• Wood, vines used for
decorations and crafts
• Smokevine root used
as medicinal tea for
digestion
• May be pests
Opportunity
Opportunity
• Under-utilized Trees
• Sassafras
– Root bark used as
flavoring, aromatic,
and medicinal
– Wood used for
furniture,
decorations
– Wood and bark used
as yellow dye
Pine Needle Sculptures
Floral Decoratives
Opportunity
• Native Plants
• Evergreen shrubs with
spring blooms
• Popular in landscape
plantings
• Forced blooming twigsRhododendron
Witchhazel
Forsythia Plum
Opportunity
Nursery Stock
Christmas Trees & Greenery
Floral Arrangements
Woody Floral Markets
Nebraska Woody Floral (Fresh Only) Retail Markets*
• Pussy Willow 70,500 $56,400
• Curly Willow 68,400 $54,720
• Red (Sweet) Birch 53,700 $42,960
• Flowering Branches 7,400 $11,100
• Forsythia 10,100 $10,100
• Red Dogwood 3,500 $2,800
Totals 213,600 $178,080
*109 wholesale and retail florists
**Retail prices = $0.50 to $0.80/stem, more for flowering branches
Species # Stems Value**
Woody Floral Market
Seasonality• Curly willows: year round
• Reds: December Holidays -Valentines Day
• Orange & Yellows: Fall through Thanksgiving, yellow again in Spring
• Pussy Willow: Winter/Spring
• Flowering Branches: Late Winter/Spring (Mid-March to end
of April). Demand drops rapidly once plants bloom locally.
• Holly: December only
Woody Floral Market
Factors• Demand exceeds supply due to seasonal availability
• Increasing demand for curly willow
• Local suppliers preferred by some wholesalers IF they
could supply “year round, and at the right price”
• Labor shortages
• Hobby Chains don’t carry wider array of dried woody
florals because of shipping damage & high costs
• Trend toward more “natural” floral arrangements
promoted by Martha Stuart, etc.
Woody Floral Market
Challenges
• Small, niche markets for some cultivars
• Seasonality varies by species/cultivar
• Danger of concentrated production with a
few growers (unlikely due to labor
requirements)
• Consistent quality & reliable supply
• Wholesalers resistant to changing current
sources
Woody Floral
Production
Woody Floral Production Over Three Growing Seasons
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Sca
rlet C
urls W
illow
Cor
kscr
ew W
illow
Pus
sy W
illow
Bailey Dog
woo
d
Color
ado Dog
woo
d
Car
dinal D
ogwoo
d
Flam
e W
illow
Yellowtw
ig D
ogwoo
d
Blood
twig
Dog
woo
d
Avg
. # M
arketa
ble
Ste
ms/P
lan
t
1'st Harvest
2'nd Harvest
3'd Harvest (drought)
4th Harvest
Costs and Returns by Cultivar
($5.00)
$0.00
$5.00
$10.00
$15.00
$20.00
$25.00
$30.00
Sca
rlet c
urls w
illow
Stre
amco
willow
Flam
e willow
Pus
sy w
illow
Cur
ly w
illow
Yellowtw
ig dog
woo
d
Blood
twig dog
woo
d
Bailey do
gwoo
d
Color
ado
dogw
ood
Car
dina
l dog
woo
d
Do
lla
rs
Total annual costs/plant
Avg potential gross income
produced/plant
Avg potential net income
produced/plant
Gross Returns in Linear Plantings
• Scarlet Curls Willow 53 8835 $3,445
• Streamco Willow 38 6335 $1,900
• Pussy Willow 43 7168 $1,300
• Curly Willow 14 3500 $1,075
• Flame Willow 10 2500 $750
• Bailey Redtwig Dogwood 9 2250 $675
• Colorado Redtwig Dogwood 9 2250 $675
• Cardinal Dogwood 8 2000 $600
• Yellowtwig Dogwood 4 1000 $450
• Bloodtwig Dogwood 2 500 $150
Avg. # Marketable # Stems Gross $
Species Stems/Plant* Per 1000’** Per 1000’
*2nd Harvest, N=~50 plants/cultivar
** 4 - 6’ spacing in 1000’ linear rows depending on species
Forest Farming
• 1929 – J.R. Smith
– “certain crop-yielding
trees could provide
useful substitutes for
cereals in animal feeds
as well as conserve the
environment”
– “hills green with crop-
yielding trees”
Production Methods
• Artificial Shade – high cost, high
inputs
• Woods Cultivated – mid-level– Forest Farmed
– Mimic nature as much as possible
• Wild Simulated – low cost, low
inputs
Source: Persons & Davies, 2005
Artificial Shade
• Planting Site
– Gentle sloping
land
•6% to 10%
•Well drained
•Good for flowers
and vegetables
•High organic
matter
Artificial Shade
• Wood lath vs
Shade cloth
– Wood lath – labor
intensive
– Shade cloth – costly
Source: Persons & Davies, 2005
Artificial Shade
• Site Prep
– Till in the summer
– Plant in the fall
– Before planting lay out shade structure
•Set corner posts
– Build beds
•4-6 feet wide
•Slightly raised
•Ditches between beds run downhill
Artificial Shade
• Soil Management
– Get your soil tested
– Ginseng may not need high soil fertility
– Calcium level
•2,000 pounds per acre
– Nitrogen -- No need
– Organic matter – add 2-3 inches of
shredded hardwood leaves
Artificial Shade
• Advantages
– Bed preparation easier
– Protection from rodents easier
– Greater harvest of berries
– Digging roots easier
– Roots grow more quickly and ready to
harvest in 3 to 4 years
– More control over inputs and outputs
Artificial Shade
• Disadvantages
– Up front costs -- expensive
– Vigorous weed growth
•Young plants need more weeding
•Control with herbicides or by hand
– Diseases
•Closely spaced plants ideal environment
•Crowding of plants increases competition
Bottom Line – Artificial
Shade
• Labor and capital
intensive
• Making a profit is
challenging
• May be able to
harvest seed, as
well
• Save money, go
natural!!
Source: Persons & Davies, 2005
Forest Farming
• Two-storied
agriculture grow
trees and other crops
• multi-storied,
growing native plants
under trees
Forest Farming
• Cultivation or Management
• Understory crops– High-valued specialty
crops?
• Established or Developing Forest
• Intensive, deliberate
• Introduces more diversity
• Incorporates – Non-Timber Forest Products
Source: University of Missouri
Pros & Cons of
Forest Farming?• Improve forest health by increasing plant
diversity
• Possible additional and diverse income streams
• More intensive management, more skills
• Markets remain enigmatic
• Task of learning new concepts may be daunting
• Possible more capital investments
• Economics – pro or con??
Forest Farming
• Growing in beds under natural
forest
• Woodlands garden, Vegetable
gardening
• Farming the forests!!
Forest Farming
What to Grow???
• Economic Value with ready market
• Characteristics
– Native
– Understory
– Ground cover, herbs, shrubs, trees
– Traditional use
– Under-utilized
Bottom Line – Woods
Cultivated
• Forest Gardening
• Lots of work
• Lots of inputs
• Recommends
– Go Natural
Wild Simulated
Wild-Simulated
• Takes longer to harvest time
• Simplest and cheapest method
• Minimal soil disturbance
• Use natural forests!
Wild Simulated• Planting
– Ideal – woodland where seng has grown
– High shade canopy [how much ?]
– Mature mixed hardwoods
– Sloped lands for drainage
– Rich woodland soils; high organic matter
– North to Northeast facing slopes
– Companion Plants
– Check out Check-list!
Wild Simulated
Companion Plants
Scientific Name Common Name Association
Adiantum pedatum Maidenhair Fern 39%
Sanguinaria canadensis Bloodroot 36%
Botrychium virginianum Rattlesnake Fern 35%
Caulophyllum thalictroides Blue Cohosh 29%
Galium triflorum Bedstraw 27%
Prosartes lanuginosa Yellow Mandarin 27%
Actaea racemosa Black Cohosh 27%
Aristolochia macrophylla Dutchman’s Pipe 26%
Osmorhiza claytonii Sweet Cicely 25%
Viola canadensis Canadian Violet 25%Source: Kauffman, G. NFNC
Wild Simulated
• Soils
– Have your soils tested
• Cooperative Extension
– Calcium
• At least 2,000 pounds per acre
• New York – 4,000 pounds per acre
• Add gypsum – not sure how much?
– Low Ph
• New York --- average 5.0
– Phosphorus & Potassium
• Not important?
• What’s the problem here?
Wild Simulated
• Site Preparation
– Cleaning
• Rake away leaf litter
– Weed killers?
• Organic vs other
• Worth it??
– Mark of planting area
• 40 foot wide strips
• Start at bottom work
uphill
Source: Persons & Davies. 2005
Wild Simulated
• Low
Maintenance
• Wildlife
damage control
• Poacher
Control
• Simulate wild
Bottom Line – Wild Simulated
• Simulate wild
• Low initial cost
• Low labor
• Low impact
• End-product
more like wild
Source: Persons & Davies, 2005
