Who We Are
The Farm & Forest Growers Cooperative works with many private and public entities to help with the Forest Assisted Migration work to preserve the Northwoods for generations to come. This team of individuals and organizations are key to the current and future success of the program.
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We collaborate with the University of MN Duluth and the Main Campus with research and programing specifics, especially around the procurement and distribution of seeds to our growers network. The Nature Conservancy and others provide a portion of the market for difficult to grow species with broader and more southern genetics, at a market prices, that allows our growers a fair wage and assured sales.
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We the growers support this mission and work!
What You’ll Do
For those interested in collecting tree seeds, please find the resource page with links to trainings, tree identification and seed collection fact sheets, and other resources. There are seeds to collect most of the year but the bulk of the collection happens in August, September, and October.
The main idea is to collect seeds of the important climate forward species likely to do better in the changing climate. The hope is to get seed from up to 250 km south of the region the trees are being planted. These "climate smart" tree seedlings, are more adapted, resilient, and thriving, as observed through UMD research under the leadership of Dr. Julie Etterson and Dr. Briana Cross. The seed is collected and then provided to the network of family owned, small growers to plant them and grow the seedlings that are needed for the next generation forests.