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It is important to recognize the level of risk a practitioner takes on in adopting or practicing agroforestry. The predominant agricultural crops and, to a lesser extent, specialty nut and fruit crops often have extensive research bases that help reduce uncertainty. That research base, coupled with government‐sponsored insurance and price support programs for many crops, significantly reduces the risk to landowners. The research base for agroforestry practices has grown substantially since 2000. While agroforestry practices do not enjoy the same level of support as commodity crops, both biophysical and socioeconomic research has been conducted to help reduce landowner risk. Government programs, especially USDA SARE grant programs directed to farmers, support the adoption and demonstration of sound agroforestry practices and are helping to address questions of risk for agroforestry adoption.

During the past decade (2010–2020), in addition to the National Agroforestry Center and the Association for Temperate Agroforestry, a number of regional agroforestry working groups have been established to bring agroforestry practitioners together. These informal networks are serving as venues for the exchange of knowledge and experiences among practitioners, cooperatives, researchers, outreach professionals, and NGOs. The growing list of key regional agroforestry working groups includes:

 Northeast/Mid‐Atlantic Agroforestry Working Group (NEMA) https://www.capitalrcd.org/nema‐about‐us.html

 Mid‐American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG) http://midamericanagroforestry.net/

 Pacific Northwest Agroforestry Working Group (PNAWG) http://pnwagro.forestry.oregonstate.edu/

 Southwest Agroforestry Action Network (SWAAN) https://aces.nmsu.edu/aes/agroforestry/southwest‐agroforestry‐w.html

 Appalachian Beginning Forest Farmers Coalition (ABFFC) https://www.appalachianforestfarmers.org/

 Savanna Institute http://www.savannainstitute.org/

In addition, many practitioners prefer to affiliate with associations or cooperatives involving like‐minded individuals, and a number of these organizations support agroforestry specialty crop production (e.g., Northern Nut Growers Association, Chestnut Growers of America, Maple Producers Association, North American Ginseng Association, ABFFC, Northeast Organic Farmers Association, Nebraska Woody Florals). The Savanna Institute, as discussed above, is a nonprofit organization created to reap the full benefits of the experiences and knowledge emerging from the diversity of agroforestry practitioners.

At the federal level, the Cooperative Extension System has developed eXtension (eXtension.org), and within eXtension there are Communities of Practice. One such community of practice, created through a grant to Virginia Tech, is the Forest Farming Community (https://forest‐farming.extension.org/). The Forest Farming Community includes forest farmers, university faculty, and agency personnel working together to provide useful farming information. The Forest Farming Community shares information about growing and selling high‐value non‐timber forest products. Members are from across the country and have experience farming and studying edible, medicinal, decorative, and craft‐based products in woodlands. The community provides woodland owners and managers with information about startup, best practices, and markets and policies.

Because of the growing wealth of organizational resources and knowledge networks, agroforestry is becoming a more realistic and practical options for thousands of landowners.