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
Additional Information
Integrating trees across the farm landscape in the UK is not a new practice, some would argue the UK is a mix of farmland and trees or forest (1). However, after the second World War until the mid-80’s farmers were incentivised to take up hedges and increase field size to accommodate larger machinery to boost yield and food production; later farmers risked losing payments if they planted trees on arable land (1). The benefits of farming with trees are now recognised in the UK and Europe, with grants and other incentives available to support diversification.
There are different options available to introduce trees on farms. The UK Government Agroforestry Handbook splits them into two categories: “infield” and “around field”. (See Photo 1) This can be broken down further:
• In field, silvo-arable – Trees planted, usually in rows, between arable crops or in horticulture settings where trees and shrubs are planted alongside annuals.
• In field, silvo-pasture – Trees combined with livestock and or forage production.
• In field, wood pasture and traditional orchards – In wood pasture livestock graze woodland. The woodland can include veteran trees and protected species. Usually, these systems have lower
management inputs to conserve habitats and enhance biodiversity.
• Around Field-trees in hedges – hedges and trees can be used as boundaries whilst storing carbon, acting as shelter and/or forage for livestock and providing habitats for birds, insects and mammals.
• Around Field-trees in fields – isolated trees in fields can provide shelter or shade, as well as habitats. A single tree may also act as community point of interest.
• Around Field-windbreaks and shelter banks – wind breaks are
usually planted to reduce wind and soil erosion. They can also provide shelter or browsing feed for livestock and act as natural boundary. A Shelter bank is a larger scale windbreak, usually across a landscape which can also provide a wildlife corridor, enhancing biodiversity and/or providing amenity value for local communities. Thinning can potentially provide a medium-term income source.
• Around Field-trees as riparian buffers – trees can be planted as riparian buffers between agricultural land and a waterway to improve water quality. They can also provide shelter, shade or browsing feed for livestock and/or act as a natural boundary. Thinning can potentially provide a medium-term income source.
Practices can be combined on one farm and planting designs and tree selection be considered depending on the farm context and funding available.
EcoFarm, a 26 ha Climate Demo Farm, in Nottingham is managed by a Community Benefit Society aiming to connect people with the land, food and environment. Fruit and nut trees are grown, in two agroforestry systems. 740 trees are in two arable fields planted between 24m cropping alleys, within 4x230m strips of wildflower and grasses. Another 3,700 are planted in woodland with grazing sheep. Ecofarm has been farming trees for 10 years, during this time research with the University of Reading has demonstrated higher environmental gains from the alley system of planting than the broadacre system, also trialled. Soil health has also improved.
Another non-cash benefit is community involvement; volunteers can plant and harvest trees and have a say on how produce is sold.(3).
Whitehall Farm, a Climate Demo Farm in Cambridgeshire established a Silvoarable orchard system in 2009. 4,500 apple trees were planted north to south across 52 hectares of arable land. Trees are spaced every 3m within an understorey of clovers, vetch and perennial wildflowers. The 27m cropping alley between each row, allows access to machinery for crops and trees. Tree row orientation reduces the impact of tree shading and helps reduce wind erosion, a common challenge in the Fens. The late ripening apple varieties selected enables cereal crops to be harvested late summer before apples are handpicked early autumn. With a farm tenancy of 15 years apples were the perfect trees to plant, providing a long enough cropping cycle to deliver an economic return on the capital invested in tree planting.
The trees enabled diversification of crops and income sources. Other benefits were soil protection a reduction in pest and disease risks and enhanced biodiversity on the farm (4).
(1) Agroforestry Handbook- Agroforestry for the UK
(2) UK Government Guide to agroforestry
(3) https://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/how-trees-helped-notts-farmer-broaden-arable-business (4) https://agroforestrynet.eu/afinet/whitehall-farm-an-innovative-silvoarable-orchardsystem-in-the-uk