Keeling Curve

Project Summary / Description:

Our agroforestry audit tool will make adding trees to farmland approachable and replicable, and this silvopasture initiative consists of planting 2200 trees on 20 acres. Silvopasture consists of incorporating trees onto grazing land. Farmers and land managers are currently unclear on the present value of silvopasture: they therefore cannot decide whether or not they should plant trees in their pastures. Clarifying the financial value of trees on pasture is part of our broader effort to develop turn-key audits for any potential agroforestry system, which will showcase system selections, profit potential and environmental benefits such as carbon sequestration.

Starting in summer of 2018, we will prepare the soil at Old Mud Creek Farm for tree planting. In the spring of 2019, we will plant 2,200 poplar trees. Mud Creek grows organic grains and grass-fed beef. These trees will require a total of 1,096 hours and $18,778 over their lifetimes, and will return $91,960 of revenue for a present value of $9,457, all while the system continues to produce grass-fed beef.

This installation process will enable us to ascertain the establishment costs of this particular type of silvopastoral system. We will subsequently create an online decision-tool that will allow graziers to plug in their acreage, herd size, and other parameters, and it will return the management costs and revenues. This will reduce financial uncertainty (risk). This tool will be free to the public, and provide us with a vetted lead pipeline.

Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Mission Statement:

We envision agricultural landscapes that systematically incorporate tree crops, by making agroforestry financially accessible, through a financial sector that values natural capital. Should farming work in favor of a livable climate, agroforestry must become a cornerstone of agriculture. 

Propagate Ventures is an agroforestry asset management company. We manage the end to end process of design, install, operations, and financing for agroforestry systems of working farms. Modeled on the solar industry‚ deployment of panel arrays, we use investment capital to provide vehicles for fruit, nut, and timber-tree systems that produce food and fiber, while sequestering carbon and regenerating landscapes.

Values:
Create and conserve value on rural landscapes - Rebuild rural economies
Value community - Build social capital
Actions have ripples. Act intentionally. - As stewards of a regenerative world, our values drive every decision we make.
Understand value - Eat great food
Build for all, not for I - We envision a world where our economies, our culture and our livelihoods participate in the living systems of the earth, regenerating the very landscapes that life depends on.
Know how to forgive - 20th century ideals may have led us away from healthy soils, but we must collaborate our way to rebuilt, reestablished ecosystems.
Don‚ t fight forces. Use them! - Buckminster Fuller had a point. We use market forces to heal ecosystems. 
Act > React - We‚ re proactive and dive headfirst into challenges
Be humble - Know what you don‚ t know
Embrace feedback loops - Critical feedback is a fuel; keep the ears and mind open
Study the whole, not the parts

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