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.
These best practices case studies, produced as part of the BRANCHES project, showcase success stories regarding forest and agricultural biomass supply chains and provide useful practical information regarding economics and tree management
BRANCHES is a H2020 Coordination and Support Action project bringing together 12 partners from 5 different countries – Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. 5 other countries were also designated for the transfer of practical knowledge – Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovakia. The project aims to promote bioeconomy and rural development through sustainable biomass chains, increase the implementation of cost-efficient new technologies, improve the connection between industry and science of bio-based economy, and to disseminate technologies and best practice in bioenergy and bioeconomy in rural areas works to increase the flow of information, new ideas and technologies among European agriculture and forestry professionals, especially in rural areas. It aims to do this through synthesising, sharing and presenting existing best practices and research results from previous and ongoing European and national projects, showcasing success stories regarding forest and agricultural biomass supply chains.
You can explore 5 national thematic networks to guide European practitioners, 50 best practice case studies, newsletters, and videos.
This webinar which explored the many benefits trees can bring to livestock systems, featuring UK Organic Research Centre’s livestock researcher Lindsay Whistance. It focuses particularly on:
– Trees for productivity and animal welfare
– Nutritional and medical properties of tree fodder
– Planting designs and choosing species
– Grants and funding opportunities
The aim of this project was to demonstrate that local short supply chain systems using biomass from landscape elements for local energy or heat production are economically feasible. Through realising these systems and bringing together experiences from different partners and regions in northwest Europe, the project wanted to demonstrate that this currently unused biomass from landscape elements can contribute to local sustainable energy production, with respect to ecological, social and cultural aspects.
Farmers, landowners and local communities worked to develop a pilot energy co-operative using woody biomass from local landscape elements (particularly farm hedges).
Various publications were produced providing guidance on harvesting woodfuel from hedges which you can access via the project website and the Organic Research Centre webpage.
Three short technical guides produced as part of the WOOdchip for Fertile Soils (WOOFS) project outlining observations and results from trials in which uncomposted and composted woodchip from on-farm woody resources was applied as a soil improver. The guides focus on key results from the trials, logistics and economics, and put the use of ramial (fresh uncomposted) woodchip in a whole farm context, considering the wider ecosystem service benefits, barriers to adoption, support available, and regulations that farmers and growers should be aware of.
There is evidence to suggest that applying uncomposted (ramial) woodchip at an appropriate phase in a crop rotation can increase soil organic matter, water holding capacity, and the nutrient levels of soils.
The WOOdchip for Fertile Soils (WOOFS) project was a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Project part funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. It was led by the Organic Research Centre (ORC) with Wakelyns Agroforestry, Iain Tolhurst (Tolhurst Organic CiC), Ben Raskin (Soil Association), Christine Watson (SRUC), William Hamer (Forestry Consultant), Robert Benford (Down Farm), and Nigel Stimson (Tree Shear Services). It trialled adding uncomposted versus composted woodchip from on-farm woody resources as a soil improver. By linking management of farm hedges and trees with the improvement of soils for agricultural production and providing an additional economic incentive for management of hedges and on-farm woody resources, it aimed to increase the sustainability of the system as a whole.
The project hub page held on the Agricology website hosts some project outputs that can be found on the ORC’s project page alongside other particularly relevant content for farmers, including a presentation, bulletin article, webinar recordings and event footage.
This website provides information on agroforestry screening, mapping, environmental benefits on a regional scale, case study projects, and information on, and links to, farm management analytics software and design software for advisors.
Regen Farmer was founded by a serial tech entrepreneur and agroforestry designer and software engineer with wide experience from environmental modelling, GIS based web development and machine learning. It is focused on accelerating the adoption of regenerative land use practices, with a goal of supporting farmers, communities, governments and organisations to transition 5 million hectares of agricultural land to regenerative agroforestry by 2025 by enabling farmers to adopt and maintain regenerative agroforestry on a global scale. The aim is to achieve this by:
– Providing agroforestry project development solutions for farmers and agricultural advisors to make agroforestry more attractive for landowners.
– Developing management and monitoring software to ensure that farmers continue to practice regenerative agroforestry through continuous regenerative management support.
A project funded by the European Union to boost agroforestry through digital tools in order to meet climate, biodiversity and farming sustainability goals (launched Nov 2022).
The Digital Tools to help Agroforestry meet Climate, Biodiversity and Farming Sustainability Goals: Linking Field and Cloud (DigitAF) project is promoting agroforestry in Europe by developing digital decision-guidance tools so that trees are appropriately integrated on farms to achieve profitable food production, reduced net greenhouse gas emissions, and enhanced biodiversity. Tools are being developed for use by i) policy makers, ii) farmers, and iii) beneficiaries of agroforestry products and services. The tools are being developed in the context of six “Living Labs” in the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Sponsor: European Union Horizon Europe with UKRI Innovate
Case study produced as part of the SAFE project developed and implemented as a CCA (Climate Change Adaptation) Measure. Several stakeholder organisations from France, The Netherlands, and Greece were involved in the SAFE project. In France, APCA (the national chamber of Agriculture in France) was responsible for the establishment of a network of agroforestry system demonstration plots that is now a very efficient tool for agroforestry extension.
The SAFE project provided models and databases for assessing the profitability of silvoarable systems, and suggested policy guidelines for implementing agroforestry. It developed biophysical and socio-economic tools to inform farmers and policy-makers of the potential for silvoarable agroforestry to contribute to the integrated and sustainable development of European rural areas.
In Montpellier, the agroforestry scheme has been implemented for 20 years. The agroforestry scheme adopted in Montpellier within the SAFE project is a combination of walnut trees and wheat cultivation. A French national scheme for planting half a million hectares of agroforestry during the next 25 years is expected to be based on results obtained by INRA (Institut Nantional de la Recherche Agronomique) at Montpellier.
The case study provides information on challenges, objectives and benefits.
