One set of unsourced estimates puts a food forest at minimal yield in Years 1-3, 500-1,000 lb of fruit and berries per acre in Years 3-5, and 5,000-15,000 lb per acre in Years 10-20, so plan around the timing and not the totals. Check any yield claim by dividing its calories by its weight: the figure must fit the foods you actually plant, and nuts carry far more energy per pound than fruit. Use the numbers as a range to test against your own harvest records.
A yield timeline is the schedule by which a planting moves from no harvest to full production, expressed as weight or calories per acre at each age.
The Table Is A Range To Test, Not A Forecast
The carrier guide (Food Forest & Permaculture Design) gives per-acre estimates for a well-designed temperate food forest:
| Age | Weight per acre | Calories per acre |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1-3 | Minimal | Depends on interplanting |
| Year 3-5 | 500-1,000 lb | 150,000-350,000 kcal |
| Year 5-10 | 2,000-5,000 lb | 500,000-1,500,000 kcal |
| Year 10-20 | 5,000-15,000 lb | 1,500,000-5,000,000 kcal |
| Year 20+ | 10,000-20,000+ lb | 3,000,000-8,000,000 kcal |
No source is given. The timing in the table also differs from the three stage windows used in this guide (Years 1-3, 3-7, 7-15); see Establishment Timeline.
Check The Calories Against The Weight
Dividing calories by weight gives the energy density the table assumes:
- Year 3-5: 150,000 ÷ 500 = 300 kcal/lb; 350,000 ÷ 1,000 = 350 kcal/lb.
- Year 10-20 upper end: 5,000,000 ÷ 15,000 = 333 kcal/lb.
- Year 20+ upper end: 8,000,000 ÷ 20,000 = 400 kcal/lb.
Fresh apples are 52 kcal per 100 g (USDA FoodData Central), and 1 lb is 453.6 g, so 52 × 4.536 = about 236 kcal/lb. English walnuts are 654 kcal per 100 g, about 2,970 kcal/lb. A planting that averages 300-400 kcal/lb is therefore heavier in energy than apples alone and must include some energy-dense nuts or similar. The table does not say what the mix is, and nut yields in particular arrive late and vary widely. The calorie column is the figure to treat most carefully.
Conversion: 5,000 lb × 0.4536 = 2,268 kg and 15,000 lb × 0.4536 = 6,804 kg per acre; 1 acre is 0.405 ha.
A Sanity Check On Tree Numbers
An acre is 43,560 ft². On a square grid, canopy trees at 25 ft spacing need 25 × 25 = 625 ft² each, giving 43,560 ÷ 625 = about 70 trees; at 40 ft, 1,600 ft² each, about 27 trees. If the Year 10-20 range of 5,000-15,000 lb came from 27 trees alone, that would be 185-556 lb per tree. In a real food forest the weight comes from all layers, so no single figure applies; use the check only to see whether a claimed per-acre yield implies a per-tree yield you could believe.
What To Do With The Table
Step 1: Plan on timing, not totals. The sequence (nothing, then berries, then fruit, then nuts) is reliable; the year is not.
Step 2: Log your own yield (Yield Expectations & Management).
Step 3: Count nothing you have not weighed against the community’s needs (Caloric Budget for a Community).
Common Mistakes
- Taking the carrier’s closing claim, that a mature forest can approach or exceed annual cropland, as established — it is an estimate; compare with your own cropland yield.
- Multiplying a per-acre figure by the whole area — paths, water features and gaps take space.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Pruning and Maintenance Schedule — what keeps yields rising
- Combine with: Integrating with Annual Crops — the food that fills the early years