Discover agroforestry in action

Helen Chesshire: Trees For Your Farm is a scheme that the Woodland Trust developed over a decade ago to inspire and encourage farmers to integrate trees into their farms. Agroforestry, as it's otherwise known, is the deliberate integration of trees and shrubs into farming systems. Simple things like hedgerows and shelter belts that most farms have, but done to make sure that the farm benefits from the economic and ecological interactions of having those trees working for that farm business. It's been an incredibly successful scheme and over 450,000 trees have been planted but more importantly, lots and lots of farmers have been inspired to think about how trees might work for their farming business.

Ellen Smith: Over the last three years I've really noticed that there's a increasing drive for farmers to plant trees on their farms. I think this is in response to extreme weather primarily, so really hot summers combined with really wet winters. Actually trees are amazing because they essentially regulate the environment, so in those hot weather events they create shade and shelter for livestock, and equally in heavy rainfall they slow the flow of water and also those sort of spaces and pores that tree roots create within the soil horizon draw water down from the surface and make farmers more resilient.

Anthony Gothard: We've planted trees here in conjunction with the Woodland Trust and Sainsbury's for a multiple of reasons. I do feel I'm just a custodian and I want to leave this place in a better way than when I started. We're now predominantly dairy, so 850 cows, milking 750 all year round. The Woodland Trust have been really good with us and we've worked together and we've got a series of different options that we've put in, from woodland to silvopasture to tree alleys, to see on some places whether we can incorporate silvopasture into our young stock grazing systems to give them shelter.

Helen Chesshire: Farming is having to change and one of the ways is to use this natural green infrastructure of trees and shrubs. It's an affordable economic way to help put some resilience into the farming business. 78% of farmers said they'd seen an increase in extreme weather events over the last decade. And then coupled with that, we know that ecosystem services are deteriorating and struggling. We know issues with pollution of rivers and we know that we've got to try and meet net zero as a sector. Nature is also declining. You know, we have this beautiful country and the farming sector manages over 70% of the land area and so has an important role to play.

Jem Gladwell: It seems a very exciting opportunity to see whether you can farm as effectively and introduce more trees into the landscape. We wanted to see if we could start breaking up the slightly larger fields and offer some shade to the animals. 

David Snowden: The reason we did the design on this piece of the project is so that we can do mob grazing. They're in alleys so that we can actually divide the fields up into smaller portions so that you can then keep your livestock within those proportions. The trees give shelter, they will give a little bit of browsing when they're a lot bigger. You have more control of your mob grazing, so that should give benefit to the fields, to the soil, as well as the livestock.

Becky McKee: We do need to look at agroforestry being part of all our farming futures. I think it's such an integral part and part of our landscape. And as we're having more difficult climate changes, I think it's a good sort of tool to have on our farm.

Russell McKee: We tried agroforestry here to add some biodiversity, some shade, shelter and browse to the livestock. Also we're starting a new joint venture of pasture poultry because it's an organic farm. We're going to graze the chickens through the trees.

Ellen Smith: What makes agroforestry unique is the way that it stacks nature benefits on top of farming benefits. No more do we have to consider making space for nature at the cost of farming. It integrates the two really nicely together and on a landscape scale, agroforestry ensures that nature is well connected. And when we think about food resilience combined with nature resilience, agroforestry really achieves both.

Henry Andrews: The most important key benefit has been the livestock efficiency. During hot weather we had in the summer, the cows in the agroforestry system had a better livestock weight gain of one and a half kilos a day to the cattle which weren't in agroforestry systems. I think agroforestry in the UK, it will globally, is going to be key to survival of livestock and to arable farming. Trees really shouldn't be seen as a either or.

Helen Chesshire: The whole farming sector is thinking about how we make sure that we put that resilience into the farming landscape, that we make sure that we're working in harmony with the environment. I'm really excited to see where it will be in 10 years’ time.

Darren Moorcroft: It's creating a movement and it's driving change which is making sure that actually on our farms they are more resilient to the future. And that's a great thing for both Sainsbury's, for the Woodland Trust, but actually for society as a whole.

Simon Roberts: It's really important because everyone relies on good food. But we know the system behind producing good food is under pressure. Pressure from climate change, economic pressure. Farmers are facing those pressures and so partnership for us at Sainsbury's is really important. Working with our farmers to make sure they have the confidence to grow and produce the food we need for the future.

Becky McKee: Because Sainsbury's and Woodland Trust are offering these incentives and grants essentially to put agroforestry in, it's a good opportunity to take advantage of that. 

Russell McKee: With a lot of change in the UK ag industry at the moment, this is a change that people could embrace, a positive change that could help a lot of farms through uncertain times.

Ellen Smith: If you're a farmer who'd like to engage with the Woodland Trust, it's as simple as getting in contact with us, whether that's directly or through one of your suppliers. We'll send out an advisor, get the conversation going, spend some time working up a plan that works for that farming system but also uses the Woodland Trust's expert knowledge. We deliver all the materials that you need and assist with that process of planting and make sure that the farm is supported the whole way through.

Henry Andrews: If a farmer is considering it, there's no real downsides to it. In the five to six years I've been doing it, it's been so, so beneficial for my farming enterprise.