Eric Burkhart is working with cooperators in Beaver, Centre, and Huntingdon counties in Pennsylvania. His focus is on ginseng, goldenseal, and improved sugar maple trials.

In central PA (Centre county), Eric is working with cooperator Donald Spackman. Don is a small farm operator with forest holdings that appear to be ideal for the production of goldenseal and ginseng. He is interested in the prospects of maintaining forest cover, while generating an income.

Eric has recently begun improved sugar maple trials at two locations in central Pennsylvania. At the first location (Huntingdon county), Eric works with cooperators Judy and Winifred Berger, who are small farmers and private forest owners. On their farm, Blue Moon Farm and Forge, maple plantings have been arranged to facilitate alley cropping. Alley cropping is a planting design that permits the growing of additional crops in-between the primary tree crop. At Blue Moon, the trees are being grown along with raspberries.

A second improved sugar maple stand is located at the Pennsylvania State Horticultural Farm, Rock Springs (Centre county). This trial is intended to be used for demonstration purposes at extension and outreach events. With this in mind, these trees have been planted so as to eventually demonstrate their usefulness as a windbreak for nearby research plots.