Agroforestry Focus: Establishment

Biochar for agroforestry in Poland

Agroforestry, like any tree-related cropping system, has a problem with surplus wood and tree waster from pruning, harvesting and dead stock.This poster (presented at the EURAF 2024 conference) explores a potential solution of converting it into biochar and using it to improve soils or as charcoal to generate additional income. It focuses on biochar production in different locations in Poland.

Walnut in silvoarable alley cropping system. Startup and first results of a long-term practice-oriented agroforestry research field in Flanders, Belgium

This poster (presented at the EURAF 2024 conference) presents the initial setup and early outcomes of a walnut-based silvoarable alley cropping system in Flanders, Belgium, demonstrating practical feasibility, ecosystem benefits, and tailored agroforestry practices to support adoption among Flemish farmers.

AFINET – A revitalization of a wood pasture in the Bakony

This video is a Hungarian innovation tutorial video on wood pasture restoration aiming to share farmer experiences on agroforestry system management. Produced as part of the AFINET project, it features Antal Varga at Zöldág Farm in Hungary, which is a ReForest living lab farm. Find out more about it here https://agroreforest.eu/living-lab-hungary-olaszfalu/

Farming with trees: a potential ‘win-win’ for sustainable food production and biodiversity?

This downloadable pdf briefly explains the findings of a PhD study investigating the effects of integrating trees into arable land on biodiversity and food production. It provides information on the research questions, the farms involved, pests and weeds, benefits of allowing understoreys to flower, biodiversity and pollinators, and productivity and income. You can access the complete thesis and associated publications via the link.

A Tree Species Guide for Agroforestry in the UK

This guide was produced by the University of Reading and Forest Research in partnership with Defra and the Expanding Agroforestry project stakeholder group. It aims to provide a simple and accessible overview of the key attributes (whether beneficial or detrimental) of tree species in UK agroforestry systems. Information on tree species characteristics has broader applicability within Europe. It is suitable for farmers interested in agroforestry, and other interested parties including farm advisers, foresters, and policymakers. It has been produced following a review of existing literature and databases, together with consultation with the stakeholder group. The guide comes with some important caveats, limitations and assumptions, which are discussed in the introduction.

Agroforestry Pollinator Plantations for the Future

The app will firstly give you access to Forest Research’s state-of-the-art Ecological Site Classification (ESC), APP model, giving you information on suitability of tree species, also allowing you to see how climate change will likely affect your holding. Future climate scenarios adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) of greenhouse gases concentration trajectory, all of which are considered possible depending on the volume of greenhouse gases emitted in the years to come. RCP is directly linked to global mean average temperature in Celsius.

These tools will enable you to make an informed choice of which wild species trees have the greatest chance to survive climate change predictions on your land site. Information on other outputs from trees in farming to help you assess how it fits with your other enterprises and business is also included, as well as ideas for planting schemes and configurations. Planting in mixed species stands provides the best outcome for both tree species and their pollinators as this provides forage over a greater part of each season, helping ensure pollinators don’t starve. APP4future schemes also provide habitat and forage for pollinators, whose populations are declining. Supporting pollinators is vital for nature and our farmed landscape, increasing pollination and yields of all insect-pollinated crops.

How can agroforestry contribute towards biodiversity conservation?

This is the recording of an online workshop hosted by the Organic Research Centre (ORC) in October 2021 and organised as part of the Farming the Future programme. It set out to explore how agroforestry could contribute towards the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, and the policy options that could support the realisation of these benefits. Chaired by Colin Tosh, Senior Agroforestry researcher at ORC, it features Tom Staton, University of Reading PhD researcher on agroforestry and biodiversity in arable systems (particularly focusing on natural pest control and pollination), Devon-based farmer Carolyn Richards, who reflects on her experiences of developing silvopasture with a view to better managing her herd and enhancing biodiversity, and Helen Chesshire – Senior Farming Advisor for the Woodland Trust who asks how the UK policy might help agroforestry achieve biodiversity goals. It also features a lively interactive discussion with delegates.

Wakelyns Agroforestry: Resilience through diversity

Wakelyns, surrounded by a sea of large-scale conventional arable production, is an oasis of trees, alive with bird song and insects. Integrating trees for timber, energy and fruit production into an organic crop rotation, this 22.5 hectare innovative farm was established by the late plant pathologist, Prof. Martin Wolfe, to put into action his theories of agrobiodiversity being the answer to achieving sustainable and resilient agriculture. Marking 30 years of agroforestry at Wakelyns, this recently updated publication celebrates the work of Martin and Ann, fellow researchers from the Organic Research Centre and the wider research and Wakelyns community; as evolved and expanded on by their son David Wolfe and his wife Amanda from 2020. It tells the story of Wakelyns and includes sections on diverse cereal populations, impacts of added diversity on insects and birds, food and energy production, enterprise stacking, ramial woodchip trials, pond restoration and creation, research focused on tree / crop interactions, and sustainability assessments.

Agroforestry in the UK

Short film created by the UK-based Soil Association through their involvement in the FABulous Farmers project exploring some of the benefits that can be experienced from different UK agroforestry systems. It features the Soil Association’s Head of Horticulture and Agroforestry Ben Raskin explaining what agroforestry is and showing a field at Eastbrook farm that has 19 different species of trees and nuts, and an alley cropping field that will provide shade, shelter and browse for cattle. Organic Research Centre’s Senior Livestock Researcher Lindsay Whistance talks about the important part trees can play in helping to manage carbon sequestration, nitrogen sequestration and methane. Martyn Bragg of Shillingford Organics explains the many benefits that have come from combining alleys of trees with vegetable crops, and Jon Perkin and the Apricot Centre’s Martina Brown-O’Connell, talk about the advantages of the system run at the Dartington Hall Estate, where sub tenants have taken on a strip of land and planted their own trees which they can take produce from.

Devon silvopasture network

Seven farmers and a research farm in Devon, UK, are integrating trees with livestock on their farms and monitoring the impact on livestock behaviour, biodiversity and soil health metrics as part of a 12-year field lab through the Innovative Farmers programme involving the Woodland Trust, Organic Research Centre, Rothamsted Research and FWAG SW. Three designs are being tested, with a mixture of cluster planting, regular spacing and shelterbelts.

The farm enterprises are a mixture of dairy, beef, sheep and arable. The Woodland Trust have worked with the farmers to design planting systems. Each design has been chosen to suit the grazing requirements of the farmers as well as fitting into the natural environment surrounding the chosen fields. Over 12 years, the farmers are monitoring tree establishment and factors that may affect this (fencing, wildlife, livestock interactions and the use of decoy rubbing posts and ‘sacrificial willow’ to distract livestock from protected trees and shrubs). The aim is to provide the first ever set of long-term data practically grounded in the reality of commercial farms.

From this page you can access a series of short films featuring farmers explaining why there are researching silvopasture and detailed technical information on the three designs being tested.

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