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.
Short film focusing on the forest garden at farm Rydeholm on the Scandinavian Söderslätt. The main tree crops are sweet chestnut (Castaneva sativa), walnut (Juglans regia), hazelnut (Corylus), korean pine (Pinus koraiensis), almonds (Prunus dulcis), ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) and araucaria (Araucaria araucana). Biodiversity, ecosystem services equivalent to wild, forest-like environments and regeneration, have been set here as equal goals with the food production. The long-term vision is to replace the annual crops (cereals, oilseed rape and sugar beets) with tree crops; sweet chestnut and araucaria (which produces seeds) replacing cereals and hazelnut, and walnut replacing vegetable oil. The film is based on interviews with Anders Lindén, the sixth generation on the farm and one of the pioneers of the Swedish agroforestry movement. Food production has to take the increasing lack of natural resources (water, living soils and fossil energy), into account and agroforestry systems have been shown to be very beneficial in improving the resilience in agricultural systems.
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 tool was developed as part of the TWECOM project for farmers, land managers and advisors interested in harvesting woodfuel from hedges and monitoring potential biodiversity impacts – to help with decision making in the planning and design of hedge management for woodfuel.
You can access and print off survey sheets you can use to assess hedges, enter your collected data on the spreadsheet, and view results. There is an accompanying survey handbook you can also refer to.
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.
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.
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.
