What it is
Mark Shepard developed New Forest Farm in Wisconsin, converting 106 acres of degraded cropland into a perennial polyculture of chestnuts, hazelnuts, apples, grapes, raspberries, and livestock. This book documents his approach to designing agricultural systems that mimic the native savanna ecosystem, producing staple crops from perennial plants while restoring ecological function.
Why we picked this
Shepard makes the economic case for perennial agriculture more forcefully than any other author. New Forest Farm produces caloric yields competitive with corn-soybean rotations while eliminating annual input costs, improving soil, and creating multiple revenue streams. His STUN (Sheer Total Utter Neglect) management philosophy challenges the assumption that productive farming requires constant intervention.
Key takeaways
- New Forest Farm produces more total calories per acre than the corn-soybean rotation it replaced, with dramatically lower input costs.
- Alley cropping (rows of tree crops with annual or perennial crops between them) can match or exceed monocrop net present value over 40-year horizons.
- Shepard's 'STUN' approach (Sheer Total Utter Neglect) selects for the most resilient genetics by letting natural selection do the breeding work.