The Forest Floor May Be Untapped Agricultural Land
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Missouri Forest Farmers Find Buyers For Mushrooms, Ginseng And Other Understory Crops
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Shiitake mushrooms grow on logs stacked up under a grove of pine trees at the Ozark Forest Mushrooms farm near Salem, Missouri.
Trees role in agriculture tend to be viewed as limited to the lumber industry or highly organized orchards to grow fruits, but some farmers are looking to the forest floor to get more people into agriculture, at least part-time.
Dennis Lindberg’s five acres in southern Missouri don’t look like a farm. Amongst the trees on the sloping ground are smatterings of small, green plants. Those are his crops.
“Here’s some ginseng here that I planted,” Lindberg said, pointing to a patch that to the untrained eye looks like weeds. “I’m taking the seed from it and just planting it right in here, so it will spread.”