Joining the scheme because ‘farmers trust farmers’
ONE of the farmers taking part in the agroforestry field scale trials is Andy Gray who rears animals in Devon for a direct sales meat box company.
He said: “With big changes in agricultural policy ahead, farmers are now looking into the regenerative practices we can do on our farms to prepare our businesses to benefit from public money for public goods. For me, agroforestry is one of these changes. I’m incredibly keen to get agroforestry taken up by more farmers because of the environmental benefits it brings. The list of the benefits you can get are undeniable – soil health, water quality, shelter for animals. It also provides an extremely good marketing opportunity as it helps us show our customers that we are doing our bit. This field lab is about building knowledge and the understanding for the wider farming community. By doing this we can prove to our neighbours that it works so they then have the confidence to adopt it. Farmers trust farmers and the more conversations you have, the more you learn, the more you develop new ideas.”
Hen Curtis, an organic livestock farmer involved in the field lab, said: “We’ve been organic livestock farmers for 30 years and part of the reason for that is that we want to farm with the environment in mind. But with the growing public desire to reduce the impact that meat has on the environment it’s clear that we need to do more. That’s why I wanted to be part of this agroforestry field lab so we can investigate more ways of capturing carbon on our farm and increasing the biodiversity.”
Woodland Trust outreach adviser Mick Bracken said: “This research will go a long way to exploring how trees can be incorporated on to farmland for maximum benefit and hopefully lead to more farmers taking it up.”
Dr Martin Blackwell who is leading the soil monitoring research at Rothamsted said: “Using our expertise in soil monitoring we hope to able demonstrate in a relatively short time frame that this approach can positively affect soil health.”
Dr Lindsay Whistance from Organic Research Centre said: “The presence of trees on pasture offers a wide range of benefits to livestock including body care, shade and shelter, browse and medicinal benefits. These benefits can translate into better animal welfare and higher productivity.”
Field lab coordinator Luke DaleHarris of FWAG South West said: “The challenge is identifying how silvopasture systems can be most effectively designed, and precisely what benefits they can provide.”
Dr Kate Pressland from Innovative Farmers added: “For farmers looking to take on agroforestry, the knowledge gained in this field lab will offer real guidance.”