Canopy Farm Management
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Canopy Farm Management
@canopyfm.bsky.social
🌿Providing tree planting and agroforestry management services to farmers and landowners in the Midwest🌳
Canopyfm.com
Canopynursery.com
Ever wonder why we recommend Qing seedlings over other chestnut seedlings? For years, Qing has set the standard to which other promising Chestnut Varieties have been compared to. According to data from University of MO, Qing produces earlier than other cultivars and has consistently high production.
November 21, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Our fall digging and planting season kicked off a couple of weeks ago in WI! This fall we’re planting ~ 60,000 berry plants and fruit trees from our nursery at a farm nearby we long term lease. We’re feeling the days getting shorter but we’ve had some beautiful misty mornings and sunrises!
November 17, 2025 at 1:28 PM
We love Black Currants! Their ease of growth, high yields, and rich flavor make them a must have for both backyard berries and commercial operations. We offer bareroot bundles of 25 plants that have large robust root systems. Don’t be surprised if you get fruit the first season after planting!
November 13, 2025 at 6:50 PM
🦌UPGRADE YOUR FOOD PLOT🦌
Plant now & hunt better for years to come.
Want to create the ultimate deer magnet? Skip the generic chestnut and persimmon seedlings and plant trees that actually deliver results. The best food plots start with the best genetics. Our trees come from the Midwest's best.
September 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM
We love getting updates from our customers! Have you ordered trees from us? We would love to hear how they are doing!
September 9, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Canopy Nursery Spring 2026 Nursery Orders Are Open!
This year we have a wide selection! Asian Pears, Peaches, Heartnuts, Elderberries, Honeyberries, Gooseberries, Serviceberries, Jostaberries, Bush Cherries, Grafted and Seedling Persimmons, and Willow Cuttings. Use Code EARLYBIRD for free shipping.
September 1, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Tom Wahl and Kathy Dice of Red Fern Farm are pioneers of the chestnut industry. Canopy works closely with Red Fern to source the highest quality chestnut seed from their orchard to grow in our nursery. We will be launching sales for our Spring 2026 nursery sales in one week on September 1st!
August 27, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Afforestation is the process of establishing a forest where there wasn't one. As part of our mission to support biodiverse ecosystems, we work with gov agencies and conservation groups to rebuild forest on unproductive ag lands through afforestation. Seeing wildlife while we work is a bonus!
August 23, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Two under-appreciated groups of pollinators are beetles + flies. These insects are the primary pollinators for chestnuts and pawpaws. Beetles+flies have shorter flight radii than bees, so including pollinator habitat close to production orchards (within 300 feet) for these crops is critical.
August 22, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Twilight Tailgate with the Trees: End of Summer Celebration
August 28 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Urbana Illinois

Only one Tailgate at the farm this year! Let’s celebrate the start of the school year with a shin-dig at the Savanna Institute Demo Farm! Come see one of our Canopy management sites.
August 21, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Even in self pollinating cultivars, black currants depend on insect pollinators such as bumblebees, sweat bees, mason bees, and hover flies. Currants bloom early in the growing season, often too early for honey bees, so farmers rely on native bees for optimal fruit set.
August 20, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Pollinators are incredibly important to us. What steps do we take to help conserve and build resilience for pollinators on our clients' farms? Because pollinators are crucial for tree crops, we highly recommend that all of our clients maintain at least 10 percent of their farm in pollinator habitat.
August 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
May 16th, Illinois experienced a dust storm. Drought, the windiest time of year and bare farm land contributed. For us, this event highlights the importance of sustainable practices including tree windbreaks, prairie strips, and cover cropping. Let’s remember lessons we learned from the Dust Bowl.
August 18, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Our team utilizes drone photography and mapping to take precision to the next level. When designing a project on a farm, we use drone maps to have top notch accuracy. We also use drones to scout clients' fields for things like pest pressure, plant health, flooding, and irrigation leaks.
August 17, 2025 at 2:38 PM
This spring, we planted 16,000 trees at one site! The client converted row crop acres to a mixture of oak, persimmon, chestnut, pear, and crabapple with the goal of attracting and feeding trophy whitetail deer. The groundcover alternates between grassy bedding areas and food plots for grazing.
August 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Back in May, our team planted 100,000 chestnut seeds at our nursery. In November, the trees will be dug and prepared for nursery customers. All of our chestnuts are from genetic lines that provide high quality chestnuts with large yields. Perfect for culinary use, silvopasture, and whitetail deer!
August 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Twilight Tailgate with the Trees: End of Summer Celebration
August 28 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Urbana Illinois
Only one Tailgate at the farm this year! Let’s celebrate the start of the school year with a shin-dig at the Savanna Institute Demo Farm!
August 14, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Heartnuts, or Japanese walnuts, are delicious and fairly easy to grow in the Midwest. They tolerate a range of soil types common and can be successful where more selective crop species can't grow. They are also cold hardy, growing in zones down to 4b. The nuts have distinctive heart-shaped shells.
August 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Willow are excellent additions to windbreaks. They grow fast, are flexible so they can tolerate high wind, and their shrubby form helps stop drift of pesticides and snow. We show one of the best examples we have seen yet with drift damage on one half of the willow windbreak.
August 12, 2025 at 2:40 PM
PAWPAW FOR SALE!
Potted pawpaws are available for **PICKUP ONLY** in August in Champaign, IL or Spring Green, WI for late summer planting (select location at check out). We will contact you once your trees are ready to schedule a pickup time.

Seed Source
Red Fern Farm and Jerry Lehman's orchard
August 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Graham Cassellius of Cassell Hollow Farm will host this field day focused on agritourism and hazelnuts. Topics covered will include hazelnut harvesting and processing, plant propagation in the high tunnel, and flower arranging. Register on Savanna Institute's website.
August 10, 2025 at 2:50 PM
We introduce you to our client engagement coordinator, Carolyn Pettit. She's the first person people meet when contacting Canopy. She connects people with the resources they need to make their agroforestry dreams come true. She loves her job, she gets to talk to people all day about trees.
August 9, 2025 at 4:37 PM
This year we planted over 200,000 trees for clients in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. We also established 100 acres of pollinator friendly cover crops and prairie. We have a range of job types including: conservation, windbreaks, riparian buffers, silvopasture, hunting properties, and orchards.
August 8, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Windbreaks are a great addition to any property. They help protect land from events like drought, water erosion, pesticide drift, and wind. Fast growing species like willow and poplar provide protection within 3-5 years. Not to mention the beauty of trees, pollinator habitat and bird watching!
August 7, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Pawpaws are the largest native North American fruit. Pawpaws tolerate more shade than many other tree crops, so they can be planted as an understory crop. Our Pawpaw seedlings come from from Red Fern Farm's improved varieties that will fruit in 5b.
Potted stock for sale through our nursery website.
August 6, 2025 at 2:31 PM