Keefe Keeley, executive director of the Savanna Institute, sits down with host Jacob Grace to talk about Savanna Institute's selection as a finalist for the 2026 Food Planet Prize and share additional news and updates from the organization. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Eliza Greenman describes the efforts underway to save a unique repository of apple trees from Kyrgyzstan that are currently growing in Ohio...at least for the next few months. This story was recently covered in Civil Eats: https://civileats.com/2026/03/24/in-an-ohio-apple-grove-researchers-race-to-save-rare-varieties/

The Savanna Institute’s Deep Roots Award recognizes an individual for a lifetime of achievement advancing the science, practice, and adoption of perennial agriculture, and was presented this year to Wes Jackson, co-founder of The Land Institute. The New Shoots Award recognizes an emerging leader in perennial food and agriculture, and was presented this year to Selena Warsaw-Lane, owner of Future Fruit Farm and The Frozen Local in Spring Green, Wisconsin. This episode features a recording of the Deep Roots and New Shoots Awards Ceremony from the opening session of the 2026 Perennial Farm Gathering, held March 11-13th in Dubuque, Iowa.

The 6th World Congress on Agroforestry was held October 20-24th in Kigali, Rwanda, and staff members Lily Hislop and Jenn Ripp were in attendance. Hear their interviews with other attendees and their reflections on the event in this episode of the Perennial AF podcast. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

“Living Roots: The Promise of Perennial Foods”, a new book co-edited by Dr. Liz Carlisle and Dr. Aubrey Streit Krug, will launch at the upcoming Perennial Farm Gathering in Dubuque, Iowa on March 12th. In this episode, Liz and Aubrey share the stories behind the book. “Living Roots” features writing by over thirty different contributors who are working to advance perennial agriculture, including several Savanna Institute staff members. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Silvopasture researchers Stefania Cartoni-Casamitjana and Diane Mayerfeld describe the lessons they’ve learned from their research on silvopasture establishment by woodland thinning in southern Wisconsin, and share practical guidance for farmers considering silvopasture by subtraction on their own land. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Host Jacob Grace discusses the book "Quit" by professional poker player Annie Duke with his coworker Erin Crooks Lynch. When is quitting a good thing? How do lessons from the book apply to perennial agriculture? Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Dick McGinnis, a black currant breeder based in British Columbia, began his career as a stockbroker before devoting many years to developing cold-hardy, blight-resistant black currant varieties. The Savanna Institute acquired Dick McGinnis’s breeding program in 2022. In this episode, Savanna Institute researcher Lily Hislop explains what’s next for the “McGinnis cultivars,” and we’ll hear from Dick McGinnis himself, who recorded a webinar with our staff last year. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

In 2024, Savanna Institute began a bioacoustic monitoring program to record the sounds of birds and other wildlife each morning and evening at one of our research farms. Ecosystem scientist Nate Lawrence explains the initial results from this project and how we hope to expand our acoustic monitoring in the future to identify birds, amphibians, insects, and bats in agroforestry fields. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF

Host Jacob Grace reads from the first three chapters of Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture by J. Russell Smith, first published in 1929. This book, which is now in the public domain, has been extremely influential in the adoption of agroforestry in the United States, and in the origins of the Savanna Institute in particular. Show notes at www.SavannaInstitute.org/PerennialAF