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Trees are a natural solution
to challenges facing farmers

Leaving the European Union and, as a consequence, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will have a major impact on the rural landscape. It is essential that we collectively ensure this is used as an opportunity to rewrite land use policy.

June 2017

In a previous blog, I spoke about how if planted in the right place trees will deliver multiple, multi-tiered benefits for agriculture, the environment and society. And here at the Woodland Trust we have been busy working with a growing band of farmers and researchers to convince the policy makers trees should be a key component of any land management policy.

Trees make farming systems more resilient and productive whilst simultaneously delivering an array of ecosystem services. But under CAP, the separation of policy regimes at UK and EU level for agriculture, forestry and nature conservation failed to recognise the benefits of tree and agriculture integration.

EU legislation discouraged farmers from integrating trees into their farming systems by stating that more than 100 trees per hectare would result in the loss of their Basic Farm Payment (BFP).

Here at the Woodland Trust we are working with a growing number of farmers who are leading the way in showing how trees play a key role in their business and the delivery of an array of public benefits.

What I am talking about is often referred to as agroforestry; farming systems that deliberately combine trees and shrubs with crops or livestock. It is a land management approach that balances productivity and the protective functions of ecosystem services.

In other words, it avoids the trade-off between food provision and other services such as clean water, healthy soils, abundant wildlife and landscape character.

Cream of the crop

For arable farmers, trees will reduce wind speed, which can protect against soil erosion and manage soil and air temperature and soil moisture content, lengthening the growing season and increasing yields, sometime by as much as 3.5 per cent. Arable farmer James Thomas will be speaking at Agroforestry 2017 explaining how strategically planted shelterbelts are preventing his soil from being washed away.

They provide nectar, nesting and foraging resources for pollinators and natural pest enemies. Their roots can access nutrients unavailable to crops and recycle them via leaf fall and root debris. Nitrogen losses can be reduced by 50% in agroforestry, with improved phosphate availability compared to mono-cropping. Read more about the role of trees in arable farming here.

How can trees help improve the performance of livestock?

In an earlier blog, I spoke about the excellent return on investment from planting trees on his hen ranges that woodland egg producer David Brass receives.

But here at the Woodland Trust we’re working with a wide range of livestock farmers to help their business become more resilient and productive through planting.

They include dairy farmer Tim Downes, who plants for the medicinal benefits trees bring to his herd. He’s exploring the anti-inflammatory properties in the salicylic acid of willow trees.

And when it comes to sheep, well-designed tree shelter has been shown to give a 10% improvement in live weight gains, reduce lamb mortality by 30% and reduce the risk of mastitis in lactating ewes. With the help of PhD Student Pip Jones of Bangor University and her electric sheep project we are learning how to make 'weather-smart' farms using tree shelter. Find out more here at Electric Sheep, or meet them in person at Agroforestry 2017 on 22nd June.

The 'Electric Sheep' project ©Pip Jones

New marketable products

And let’s not forget that trees can provide an additional source of income. Whether it’s fruit, nuts or wood fuel, introducing tree products into a farm portfolio increases the resilience of the business in the face of market fluctuations, extreme weather and pest and disease outbreaks. Productivity of well-manged silvoarable and silvopastural schemes has been shown to be higher than mono-cropping alone, often by 20-40%.

Agroforestry has the potential to be a game changer in a post CAP policy landscape supporting a sustainable agricultural sector whilst delivering an array of benefits for the environment and people.

But for this to happen we need a fully integrated land management policy that supports tree planting within the farmed landscape. It needs to be underpinned with fair regulation that rewards land managers for maintaining, restoring and creating the public goods and services their land provides. The new Government must look afresh at the interplay between trees, woods, forestry and farming and make it far easier for landowners to integrate tree planting into their wider land use plans.

Largely as a result of this separation of policy regimes at UK and EU level of agriculture and forestry, there remains a lack of understanding and knowledge about trees on farms.

And this is something the Woodland Trust, along with a wide array of partners, is trying to rectify. If you’re interested to know more then do join us at the agroforestry conference we are hosting with the Soil Association and Royal Forestry Society on June 22 at Cranfield University, Bedfordshire. It will be an inspiring and practical day, hearing from farmers with hands on experience how their productivity and profits have increased since planting. More information is available here.

Helen Chesshire

Senior Farming Advisor, Woodland Trust

Find the Woodland Trust on Twitter: @WoodlandTrust

The opinions expressed in this blog are the author’s and not necessarily those of the wider Link membership.