From May 5 to 7, 2026, the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), in partnership with the USDA National Agroforestry Center and the California Agroforestry Network, hosted the San Diego Agroforestry Workshop for Natural Resources Professionals in Encinitas, California. The training brought together resource conservation district staff, conservation professionals, technical service providers, nonprofit staff, producers, and agency partners for several days, focused on what agroforestry implementation looks like in Southern California landscapes and the relationships and local networks necessary to successfully support this work long term.

Hosted at a regenerative farm and community agriculture space in the greater San Diego area, the workshop combined classroom discussion with field-based learning and direct producer engagement. Participants toured active production areas while discussing how agroforestry practices can support soil health, biodiversity, water conservation, and long-term resilience in working agricultural systems. Conversations throughout the week focused on how practices like multistory cropping, hedgerows, prescribed grazing, and other conservation-focused approaches are being adapted to Southern California’s dryland and Mediterranean climate conditions.

The field portion of the workshop gave participants the opportunity to spend time directly with producers implementing agroforestry and regenerative management practices on working farms. Discussions moved beyond introductory concepts and into the realities of establishment challenges, long-term management decisions, balancing conservation goals with operational needs, and what implementation looks like from a producer perspective. Participants also spent considerable time discussing barriers that continue to affect adoption, including funding limitations, staff capacity, planning time, and the complexity of implementing agroforestry systems within existing operations and conservation programs.

One of the strongest themes throughout the workshop was the value of bringing people together across different parts of the conservation and agricultural community. Participants consistently highlighted peer discussion and networking as one of the most valuable aspects of the training, alongside the opportunity to get into the field and see different systems firsthand. Conversations regularly connected federal, state, and local perspectives with the producer perspective, helping participants better understand both the opportunities and the practical realities landowners are navigating when considering agroforestry implementation.

The workshop is part of NACD’s broader partnership with the USDA National Agroforestry Center, focused on expanding agroforestry education and technical assistance capacity nationwide. Over the last two years, that work has included regional virtual trainings introducing conservation districts and partners to agroforestry practices and conservation planning considerations, along with agroforestry sessions at NACD’s Annual Meeting in San Antonio, highlighting examples of districts and local partners already implementing these approaches in different regions of the country.

In continuing this partnership through a secondary agreement, NACD and the National Agroforestry Center will continue building on these efforts through additional outreach, trainings, and educational opportunities designed to strengthen agroforestry technical assistance capacity nationwide. Future efforts are expected to further scale peer learning and locally grounded engagement opportunities throughout NACD’s membership network while continuing to strengthen regional relationships between producers, practitioners, conservation districts, and agency partners across the Pacific Region and beyond.

Tags: pacific region