Contact/s:
Ian Knight
ian.knight@abacusagri.com
Farming With Trees – Opportunities Through Agroforestry
UK
All Zones
- Carbon Sequestration & Soil Health: Trees enhance carbon storage above and below ground, improve soil organic matter, structure, drainage, and nutrient cycling.
- Protection & Erosion Control: Trees provide shelter against extreme weather, safeguard livestock and crops, limit wind and water erosion, and offer shade.
- Diversification & Resilience: Agroforestry increases farm income by utilizing marginal land, enhances climate resilience, and reduces input needs for feed, water, and pest control.
Thematic Areas
Production System/s
Summary for Practicioners on the Main Finding(s)/Innovative solution(s)
Integrating trees into UK farmland is not new; some argue the landscape is naturally a mix of farmland and trees. However, post-WWII until the mid-80s, farmers were incentivized to remove hedges and enlarge fields for machinery, later risking payment losses if planting trees on arable land (1). Today, tree farming benefits are recognized, with grants supporting diversification. The UK Government Agroforestry Handbook categorizes tree integration into in-field (silvoarable, silvopasture, wood pasture, orchards) and around-field (trees in hedges, trees in fields, windbreaks, riparian buffers) systems. Farmers can combine these based on farm needs and funding.
EcoFarm in Nottingham, a 26-hectare Climate Demo Farm, is managed by a Community Benefit Society. It integrates trees into two agroforestry systems: 740 trees in arable fields between 24-meter cropping alleys with wildflower strips and 3,700 trees in woodland with grazing sheep.
After 10 years, research with the University of Reading found alley planting delivers greater environmental gains than broadacre planting, also improving soil health. A key non-cash benefit is community involvement, as volunteers help with planting and harvesting (2).
Whitehall Farm in Cambridgeshire, another Climate Demo Farm, established a silvoarable orchard system in 2009, planting 4,500 apple trees across 52 hectares. Trees are spaced 3 meters apart, with an understory of clovers, vetch, and wildflowers. 27-meter cropping alleys allow machinery access. Tree row orientation reduces shading and wind erosion, a common Fens challenge. Late-ripening apples enable cereal harvests in late summer, followed by apple picking in autumn. With a 15-year tenancy, apples provided a strong return on investment, while also improving soil protection, pest control, and biodiversity (3).
Sources:
(1) UK Government Guide to Agroforestry
(2) Farmers Weekly – Agroforestry in Nottingham
(3) Agroforestry Net – Whitehall Farm
Longer Description
Integrating trees into UK farmland is not new; some argue the landscape is naturally a mix of farmland and trees. However, post-WWII until the mid-80s, farmers were incentivized to remove hedges and enlarge fields for machinery, later risking payment losses if planting trees on arable land (1). Today, tree farming benefits are recognized, with grants supporting diversification. The UK Government Agroforestry Handbook categorizes tree integration into in-field (silvoarable, silvopasture, wood pasture, orchards) and around-field (trees in hedges, trees in fields, windbreaks, riparian buffers) systems. Farmers can combine these based on farm needs and funding.
EcoFarm in Nottingham, a 26-hectare Climate Demo Farm, is managed by a Community Benefit Society. It integrates trees into two agroforestry systems: 740 trees in arable fields between 24-meter cropping alleys with wildflower strips and 3,700 trees in woodland with grazing sheep.
After 10 years, research with the University of Reading found alley planting delivers greater environmental gains than broadacre planting, also improving soil health. A key non-cash benefit is community involvement, as volunteers help with planting and harvesting (2).
Whitehall Farm in Cambridgeshire, another Climate Demo Farm, established a silvoarable orchard system in 2009, planting 4,500 apple trees across 52 hectares. Trees are spaced 3 meters apart, with an understory of clovers, vetch, and wildflowers. 27-meter cropping alleys allow machinery access. Tree row orientation reduces shading and wind erosion, a common Fens challenge. Late-ripening apples enable cereal harvests in late summer, followed by apple picking in autumn. With a 15-year tenancy, apples provided a strong return on investment, while also improving soil protection, pest control, and biodiversity (3).
Sources:
(1) UK Government Guide to Agroforestry
(2) Farmers Weekly – Agroforestry in Nottingham
(3) Agroforestry Net – Whitehall Farm