As reported by KNOE.com in New Orleans, the Louisiana State University AgCenter recently released a study showing the benefits that farmers may accrue by combining forestry with growing crops.  This technique, also called “alley cropping” or “forest farming”, allows farmers to manage the lands for growing crops like corn or switchgrass within a tree lot by choosing appropriate tree spacing and crop varieties to allow both to grow.  You can read the article here.

Alley cropping of corn and walnuts. Source: USDA via Commons Wikimedia
Alley cropping of corn and walnuts. Source: USDA via Commons Wikimedia