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.
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.
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.
In Romania, combining trees with crops and/or animals has been practiced over a long time in various forms and, at the same time, it is a concept not fully understood and not perceived as being based on independent science. This scientific paper aims to present a summary of the main types of agroforestry systems in Romania that were based on consulting relevant works and on the results of researchers and identifies what steps are needed to encourage promotion and implementation of agroforestry systems in the country.
This Paradigm Shift Film features some of Sweden and England’s agroforestry pioneers explaining how we can play a key role in restoring ecosystems through our food production…
Martin Crawford, Director of the Agroforestry Research Trust in the UK, focuses on agroforestry as a perennial intercropping system, equipping us with more food security and resilience to increasing weather extremes. He stresses the need to move from annual crops to perennial crops and become carbon negative through incorporating trees and shrubs in growing systems, showing some crops that can be grown in forest gardens. Professor Martin Wolfe, founder of Wakelyns Agroforestry Farm, Suffolk, highlights the many benefits of diversity and touches on tree management by coppicing and pollarding and calculating the performance of crops grown in alleys compared to crops grown in a large field or plantation using the Land Equivalent Ratio. The various cropping systems at Wakelyns are sequestering carbon, promoting cycling of nutrients and water, providing a haven of biodiversity, and helping reduce problems with pests and diseases.
Johanna Björklund from Örebro University, Sweden, explains the different kinds of agroforestry systems and the need for agroforestry; increased efficiency, reduced reliance on fossil fuels, and recycling phosphorous, nitrogen and other nutrients between plants and animals. She suggests some actions needed to increase food security and the use of agroforestry in the future, and what you could do if you were wanting to establish an agroforestry system. Philipp Weiss, Stjärnsund, Sweden, explains the principles of the forest garden, what we can learn from it and the deciduous forest, and how a forest garden can be built into an already established woodland. He explains that Bagarmossen Forest Garden, Stockholm is creating and maintaining its own fertility. He also explains the concepts and principles of permaculture and what it can offer as a way of helping to meet some of the global challenges, equipping people at the local community level.
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
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.
Wakelyns Agroforestry in Suffolk practices organic farming on one of the longest established and most diverse agroforestry sites in the UK. Different agroforestry systems, based on a maximum use of biodiversity, have been the site of many years of research trials and demonstrations. This 22.5 hectare / 56 acre experimental and innovative agroforestry farm was established by the late plant pathologist and pioneer Professor Martin Wolfe, to put into action his theories of agrobiodiversity being the answer to achieving sustainable and resilient agriculture. Martin pursued his research into agroforestry, co-cropping, crop populations and new crop trials at Wakelyns where the first trees were planted in 1994 and planting continues today.
Wakelyns Agroforestry integrates trees for timber (ash, wild cherry, Italian alder, small-leaved lime, sycamore, oak and hornbeam), energy (hazel, hybrid willow and poplar) and fruit (apple, plum, pear, cherry, quince, peach and apricot) production into an organic crop rotation in four mature silvoarable systems. The next generation of the Wolfe family is evolving Wakelyns as a demonstration centre for agroforestry, while also developing other activities which add to the farming and food production. Via the Wakleyns website, you can access detailed information about what is grown, how it is managed, events, and much more.
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
Podcast produced as part of the Farming for a Better Climate (FFBC) consortium. Based in Scotland, FFBC provides practical support to benefit the farm and help reduce impacts on the climate. FFBC is run by SRUC on behalf of the Scottish Government. They combine ideas trialled by their volunteer Climate Change Focus Farms and information from up-to-the-minute scientific research, and offer practical advice to help farmers choose the most relevant measures to improve farm performance and resilience to future climate change effects.
This podcast episode explores the many benefits of agroforestry systems; from improved animal welfare with improved shelter, nutritional benefits from grazing access to different tree species, and other health benefits such as parasitic control from the naturally occurring chemicals ingested with the range of plants found within a woodland flora. The webpage also provides information on integrating livestock with trees.
