Showcasing Agroforestry in SE Wisconsin
Agroforestry is a land management approach that integrates trees, shrubs, and other perennial plants into crop, garden, and livestock systems. By mirroring natural ecosystems, agroforestry improves soil health, supports biodiversity, and improves local climate resilience. Agroforestry plantings can provide food, habitat, and income while protecting water and soil for future generations.​​
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The Showingcasing Agroforestry in SE Wisconsin project is led by Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in partnership with Savanna Institute, and UW-Madison Division of Extension’s Milwaukee County Urban Agriculture Program to establish four publicly-accessible, educational demonstration sites across SE Wisconsin. Many thanks to the Daybreak Fund and Caerus Fund for supporting this project, and to Plantra for providing discounted tree protection tubes.
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See Flickr albums of community planting days:
​2025 Grafting and Planting at Lee and Beulah
2025 Eagle Scout Planting Project at Kohl Farms
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Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the Daybreak Fund and Caerus Fund, we can advance agroforestry practices that not only benefit farmers but also build stronger, healthier communities and ecosystems. Our funders’ vision and commitment to regenerative agriculture and community health are enabling long-lasting community and ecosystem investments.
-Margaret Krome, former MFAI Policy Director
Community Demonstration Sites
Get Involved!
In Spring 2026, there will be two opportunities to participate in planting work days at our Milwaukee Demonstration Sites. Please email Nolan Burkard for more information.
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May 9: Hawthorn Glen in Milwaukee RSVP HERE
May 16: Kohl Farm in Milwaukee RSVP HERE
Lee Hemp Farm (Burlington, WI)
Iris Lee's farm is 50 acres of land with history and heart. Iris's father bought the land in rural Burlington in the late 1970s. Iris now operates the first social equity hemp farm in the state of Wisconsin there, and she is passionate about tending to the biodiversity of the area so that when she passes the property to her own children it's even more bountiful than before. The farm is in a very exposed area of SE Wisconsin that gets a lot of high winds, so for the plantings here we established windbreaks with native fruit and nut trees and shrubs.
Beulah Family Homestead (Elkhorn, WI)
Marcus and Efueko Landry began Beulah Family Homestead as a way to support communities in need and teach the tools to reestablish healthy balance between the land, animals, and people. At Beulah Family Homestead, youth are invited onto the 13-area property to explore the intersections of nature and communal engagement through a value-based system that emphasizes integrity, accountability, humility, and maturity. At Beulah's, fruit and nut trees were carefully selected to add crop diversification to the land while also acting as windbreaks and riparian buffers for a large pasture area. Youth were trained in tree planting and became a big part of getting the trees in the ground.
Kohl Farm Community Garden (Milwaukee, WI)
Community gardens have been a fixture of Milwaukee County Extension since rental plots were first made available at the Milwaukee County Park grounds in 1972. Over the past five decades, Milwaukee County Extension’s Urban Agriculture programming has grown to include 11 garden sites, including Kohl Farm which provides educational programming and rental garden plots. At Kohl Farm, we've planted trees and shrubs as windbreaks and riparian buffers in an area of the farm that has historically flooded during heavy rains. We've also cleared buckthorn in a hedgerow and replanted a variety of trees and shrubs that will provide food for both wildlife and people. In 2025, about 30 Boy Scouts and their families from Troop 95 in Downers Grove planted 100 trees as part of James Curry's Eagle Scout Service Project.
Hawthorn Glen (Milwaukee, WI)
Hawthorn Glen is a vibrant urban green space managed by the Milwaukee Recreation division of Milwaukee Public Schools. Neighbors from the west side of Milwaukee and Wauwatosa enjoy its trails and athletic fields. Hundreds of children from MPS visit Hawthorn Glen each year for inclusive outdoor education programming delivered by a staff of talented naturalists and conservation educators.
In collaboration with MFAI, Hawthorn Glen is adding food forestry into its portfolio of outdoor recreation outreach. Reflecting the unique needs of this site which is undergoing active habitat restoration and invasive species removal, the agroforestry design created by Milwaukee Rec Staff in consultation with MFAI and UW Extension seeks to achieve balance between productive fruit and nut cropping and the diverse uses of this urban forest oasis by people and wildlife. Pairing predominantly native and climate-adaptive perennial plantings with annual raised bed gardens will support ongoing summer youth programs which merge gardening and culinary exploration. Plums, persimmons, serviceberries, and paw paw trees will nourish and delight visiting youth. Hardwood trees like oak, maple, and hackberry will feed native insect and vertebrate species, and will support cooling and carbon capture in the urban green space.
