Perennial AF

The Savanna Institute’s Deep Roots Award recognizes an individual for a lifetime of achievement advancing the science, practice, and adoption of perennial agriculture, and was presented this year to Wes Jackson, co-founder of The Land Institute. The New Shoots Award recognizes an emerging leader in perennial food and agriculture, and was presented this year to Selena Warsaw-Lane, owner of Future Fruit Farm and The Frozen Local in Spring Green, Wisconsin. This episode features a recording of the Deep Roots and New Shoots Awards Ceremony from the opening session of the 2026 Perennial Farm Gathering, held March 11-13th in Dubuque, Iowa.  

The 6th World Congress on Agroforestry was held October 20-24th in Kigali, Rwanda, and staff members Lily Hislop and Jenn Ripp were in attendance. Hear their interviews with other attendees and their reflections on the event in this episode of the Perennial AF podcast. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

“Living Roots: The Promise of Perennial Foods”, a new book co-edited by Dr. Liz Carlisle and Dr. Aubrey Streit Krug, will launch at the upcoming Perennial Farm Gathering in Dubuque, Iowa on March 12th. In this episode, Liz and Aubrey share the stories behind the book. “Living Roots” features writing by over thirty different contributors who are working to advance perennial agriculture, including several Savanna Institute staff members. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Silvopasture researchers Stefania Cartoni-Casamitjana and Diane Mayerfeld describe the lessons they’ve learned from their research on silvopasture establishment by woodland thinning in southern Wisconsin, and share practical guidance for farmers considering silvopasture by subtraction on their own land. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Host Jacob Grace discusses the book "Quit" by professional poker player Annie Duke with his coworker Erin Crooks Lynch. When is quitting a good thing? How do lessons from the book apply to perennial agriculture? Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Dick McGinnis, a black currant breeder based in British Columbia, began his career as a stockbroker before devoting many years to developing cold-hardy, blight-resistant black currant varieties. The Savanna Institute acquired Dick McGinnis’s breeding program in 2022. In this episode, Savanna Institute researcher Lily Hislop explains what’s next for the “McGinnis cultivars,” and we’ll hear from Dick McGinnis himself, who recorded a webinar with our staff last year. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

In 2024, Savanna Institute began a bioacoustic monitoring program to record the sounds of birds and other wildlife each morning and evening at one of our research farms. Ecosystem scientist Nate Lawrence explains the initial results from this project and how we hope to expand our acoustic monitoring in the future to identify birds, amphibians, insects, and bats in agroforestry fields. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Host Jacob Grace reads from the first three chapters of Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture by J. Russell Smith, first published in 1929. This book, which is now in the public domain, has been extremely influential in the adoption of agroforestry in the United States, and in the origins of the Savanna Institute in particular. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF    

Sallie Calhoun, founder of the #NoRegrets Initiative and owner of Paicines Ranch on California's central coast, talks with staff member Jenn Ripp about how she got started ranching, her experiences as a philanthropist, and the importance of shifting from an agriculture based on chemistry to an agriculture based on biology. Show notes at www.savannainstitute.org/PerennialAF  

Farmer Josh Payne leads a tour of his farm in central Missouri and describes his management of beef cattle, sheep, and hogs in a rotational grazing silvopasture system with chestnuts and additional agroforestry crops.

Harry and Jackie Hoch describe their work establishing tropical agroforestry in Carmelita Gardens, Belize, and discuss what has happened with their farmland in Minnesota since the 2018 interview heard in the previous episode. Show notes at www.savannainstitute.org/PerennialAF

Hear an audio tour of Hoch Orchard and Gardens in southeastern Minnesota in this archival recording from 2018. Harry and Jackie Hoch describe their systems for organic apple and cider production, orchard management with multispecies grazing, integrated pest management, and more. More info at https://www.savannainstitute.org/minnesota/hoch-orchard/  

Adam D’Angelo, Breeding Operations Manager for the Savanna Institute Tree Crop Improvement Program, leads a tour of a research farm at the Savanna Institute’s Spring Green Campus in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Learn about plant breeding efforts with hybrid hazelnuts, American persimmon, black currants, elderberry, and more. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Brett Chedzoy and Cherrie Nolden have decades of experience managing silvopasture on farms in New York, Argentina, and Wisconsin. In this recorded session from PFG 2024, Brett and Cherrie describe their experiences raising cattle, goats, and other species in silvopasture systems, share lessons they’ve learned, and answer questions from the audience. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Lupe Rios talks about grafting, Eliza Greenman talks about silvopasture and fruit exploring, and Paul Dietmann talks about farm loans and financing in these interviews from the 2019 Perennial Farm Gathering. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

In 2018, the Mexican government launched a national program called Sembrando Vida, or “sowing life”, with the goal of reducing poverty and reforesting rural areas with agroforestry. Since the program’s launch, it has paid out billions of dollars and impacted over a million acres, and is now expanding to other central American countries. In this episode, researchers Pablo Gonzalez Moctezuma and Sophia Winkler-Schor describe the details of this ambitious program, and discuss what we can learn from the outcomes of the program so far. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Perennial beverage makers discuss the processing, marketing, and development of syrups, sparkling waters, salves, cordials, shrubs, beers, wines, and other beverages made with perennial ingredients in this recorded workshop from the 2024 Perennial Farm Gathering. Show notes at www.savannainstitute.org/PerennialAF

Host Jacob Grace talks with his friend Alex about her family’s experiences as non-operating landowners trying to establish perennial management on their historic Wisconsin farm, and the hurdles and roadblocks they have encountered along the way. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

This January, Savanna Institute staff member MJ Oviatt visited the UK to study hedgelaying with members of the Blackdown Hills Hedge Association. In this episode, we hear MJ’s recorded conversations with hedgelayers Martin Turner, George Pidgeon, and Steven McCulloch. Show notes at savannainstitute.org/PerennialAF/