Agroforestry

Devon silvopasture 12-year on-farm trial including site at Rothamsted's North Wyke

Series of videos exploring agroecology produced by a partnership funded by Scottish Government. 

Promoting Sustainable Choices in Agriculture and Forestry

FABulous Farmers is a European project supporting farmers in the transition to more agroecological practices on their farms. Soil Association are delivering activity in 3 UK pilot regions – South West England, West Midlands and Wales, with the National Trust leading activity in the East England. The project aims to reduce reliance on external inputs, like chemical fertilisers and pesticides, by encouraging the use of methods and interventions that increase the farm’s Functional AgroBiodiversity (FAB). These are targeted measures of biodiversity in and around the field to improve pollination, pest management, soil and water quality on the farmland.

Silvopasture is a form of agroforestry where trees are deliberately planted to be part of a farms livestock system. Three tree planting designs are being trialled as part of a field lab investigating the benefits of agroforestry.

Agroforestry has the power to improve biodiversity and soil health, cut carbon emissions and produce healthy nutritious food and sustainable timber. Do you want to create resilient and productive farm and food systems? ​Then this show is for you. The Agroforestry Show is the first of its kind aimed at bringing together farmers, foresters, tree surgeons, growers, graziers, advisors, funders, food businesses and agroforesters!

What is silvopasture? Silvopasture is a form of agroforestry where trees are deliberately planted to be part of a farms livestock system. Three tree planting designs are being trialled as part of a field lab investigating the benefits of agroforestry.

In Devon, a group of six farmers and Rothamsted’s North Wyke research farm have teamed up through Innovative Farmers to form the Devon Silvopasture Network.

A discussion on how to make silvo-horticultual agroforestry work

Trees – what role could they play in helping reduce emissions in our food system? Prof Heiko Balzter (University of Leicester) and one our Champions last year, has synthesised research on agroforestry in this report – Agroforestry as a tool for net zero in the UK.

Tree-planting is a key part of the UK government’s plan to reach net zero by 2050, with a commitment to plant 30,000 hectares of new woodland every year. But where will all these trees go, and how can we ensure food production is maintained?

This resource from Farm Consultancy Group describes one method for implementing an agroforestry livestock system.

Silvopastoral agroforestry – integrating shelterbelts, hedgerows or in-field trees with grazing livestock – can provide domestic animals with benefits, including shelter and shade, as well as supplementing their diets as tree browse or fodder.

Agroforestry systems, where productive trees are integrated into agricultural land, can deliver benefits to biodiversity, natural pest control, and pollination.

PGMs are fertilisers from perennial plant material. In this Innovative Farmers webinar we discuss how the system can work best for growers

Silvopasture is a form of agroforestry where trees are deliberately planted to be part of a farms livestock system. Three tree planting designs are being trialled as part of a field lab investigating the benefits of agroforestry.

A Practical Manual

Written for farmers and advisors this book will help you assess the potential business benefits of agroforestry for your farm or client and to understand the possible benefits to the wider environment.

Join us on a farm walk to explore how silvopasture has been incorporated onto this Biodynamic and organic mixed farm.

Join the team at Kindling Farm to see how they set up the agroforestry system on their 77 acre community owned farm.

Thinking about agroforestry? Then we have the event for "ewe."

The Policy Brief, written by Colin Tosh, is based on evidence presented in, and feedback to the online workshop held 20/10/2021.

In this surgery LEAF will be considering how economic, practical and cultural factors could influence wide-scale agroforestry across the UK farming landscape.

Rural Policy Centre Research Briefing.

Celebrating the growing global community of Agroforestry farms and farming – a farmer-led iniative, not a commercial event – no sponsors involved!

 ‘Management to Promote Flowering Understoreys Benefits Natural Enemy Diversity, Aphid Suppression and Income in an Agroforestry System,’

The deliberate integration of biomass crops into agroforestry systems can deliver a wide range of environmental benefits including improving soil health, carbon sequestration, enhancing biodiversity, and improving water quality.

Because successful and sustainable agroforestry practices are best developed by farmers and land owners working in partnership with researchers, extension staff, and other rural businesses, AGFORWARD used a participatory approach to ensure the effective involvement of all these stakeholders. These leaflets provide summaries of key innovations to systems.

Based on substantial field experience, Philippe Van Lerberghe with colleagues from the French Agroforestry Association, the World Agroforestry Centre and the other AGFORWARD partners has created 10 "Agroforestry Best Practice" leaflets.

Silvoarable systems are farming systems that integrate trees with arable cropping. 

This 2018 report covers benefits agroforestry in England can provide to farmers and the environment as well as barriers to uptake, case studies, and recommendations.

Nathan Richards of Troed Y Rhiw farm, Ceredigion, will talk to us about a particular aspect of agroforestry under cover, using stone fruit.

Agroforestry is a long game — but research funding isn’t always. With trees taking years to mature, designing meaningful short-term agroforestry trials can be tricky. Defra’s ADOPT competition offers funding for projects up to 24 months, making it best suited to research that either focuses on early tree establishment or taps into existing, mature agroforestry systems. 

A micro-festival nestled in the hills of Bannau Brycheiniog, hosted by Black Mountains College. Unlock your capacity to create a future in which people and the planet can thrive. This festival brings together community builders and activists, farmers, artists, politicians, food leaders and many more all pioneering practical systems change across the UK and internationally.  Through a day of interactive sessions, workshops, and talks, explore how they are doing it and how you too can help leverage change in small and big ways to build a more just and regenerative society.  

Wednesday 10th to Thursday 11th September ​ at Woodoaks Farm, Maple Cross, Hertfordshire

The annual Forestry Conference, organised by the CLA, Forestry Commission and Grown in Britain, is back for a eighth year - with a highly topical theme and great line-up of speakers.

Agri-Tech Week celebrates its 12th year in 2025 – featuring eleven events across the country from Newcastle to Norfolk, Essex to Earth satellites (and lots online!).

International Convention Centre Wales | 19 & 20 May 2026

The ‘Farmer Action for Tree Resilience’ project, led by Forest Research in collaboration with the University of Exeter, CCRI, FWAG South West, and the Organic Research Centre, focuses on understanding how farmers perceive and respond to the challenges of tree health and resilience on their land. It explores the motivations, barriers, and decision-making processes that shape whether and how farmers adopt practices to protect and enhance the health of trees within agricultural landscapes.  

Wakelyns, encircled by conventional arable farming, stands as an oasis of trees teeming with birdsong and insects. Integrating trees for timber, energy, and fruit production into an organic crop rotation, Wakelyns was founded by the late plant pathologist, Professor Martin Wolfe, to implement his theories that agrobiodiversity is key to achieving sustainable and resilient agriculture. Marking 30 years of agroforestry at Wakelyns, this revised edition of ‘Resilience Through Diversity’ celebrates the contributions of Martin and Ann Wolfe, fellow researchers from the Organic Research Centre, and the broader Wakelyns community. Since 2020, their work has been continued and expanded by their son David Wolfe and his wife Amanda. The original review was written by Jo Smith and Sally Westaway in 2020, with support from the Woodland Trust. This edition, revised by Janie Caldbeck and Will Simonson, was made possible through a partnership with an anonymous donor and Stewardship. It includes new sections on ‘Biodiversity for Agriculture and Conservation’ featuring our latest research at Wakelyns as part of the Agromix project. The recent work on pond restoration and creation at Wakelyns is also discussed. Additionally, we share how, since the deaths of Martin and Ann, David and Toby Wolfe and their families have continued the organic rotation agroforestry while transforming Wakelyns into a hub for farming, food, research, and the environment, emphasising short food chains, enterprise stacking, and community involvement. To download the free publication please click on the  'website link’ and fill out the form

ORC Researcher Dr. Colin Tosh recently developed a new framework for modelling the dynamics of agroecosystems, and here you are given full interactive access to these models. One thing that ORC prides itself on is making its research available to farmers, growers, and the public. This is usually in the form of online or in-person webinars, on-farm events, or articles, but on this occasion, we tried our hand at a bit of coding and software development. Dr. Colin Tosh, ORC Senior Agroforestry Researcher, recently published a new model of how the living things in arable agroecosystems interact, both in the presence and absence of in-field trees. This model was used to investigate how trees might buffer crop yield stress events such as crop pest or disease outbreaks, and in a forthcoming paper, it investigates how pesticides impact the ecosystem services that trees provide for arable farmers.