- Location
- Oxfordshire
Have thought up a new environmentally friendly farming system ,similar to Agroforestry but using hedges instead of trees.
Plant lines of hedges in arable fields parallel to the tramlines and single or multiple tramline widths apart.
E.g. In my 30m tramline system hedges would start and finish 30m from either field end so that the headland tramline would go around uninterrupted. Distance apart of hedge lines would be 30, 60 90 or 120 M depending on intensity of Hedgriculture required in the field.
Advantages would be increased in-field diversity , Homes for beneficials, food for pollinators ( eg Blackthorn is good early season pollen for Bees ) extra carbon sequestration per unit land area, easy EFA solution now pulse crops no longer a sensible option, reduction in surface windspeed for more spraying days, reduction of evapotranspiration in dry times, reduction in field waterlogging/ surface erosion in wet times,
In short all the benefits of Agroforestry but much less issues with crop shading and management of trees as most farms geared up for annual hedgetrim already.Also would not require such a massive mindset change as Agroforestry as not quite as drastic as planting trees in 'good arable fields'. Only disadvantage compared with Agroforestry is that there is no commercial return from Fruit, Nut or timber sales with Hedgriculture ( Although not really a disadvantage because the financial returns from Tree products in Agroforestry only really cancel out the annual crop yield reductions due to shading as the trees mature.)
Whats not to like................
Plant lines of hedges in arable fields parallel to the tramlines and single or multiple tramline widths apart.
E.g. In my 30m tramline system hedges would start and finish 30m from either field end so that the headland tramline would go around uninterrupted. Distance apart of hedge lines would be 30, 60 90 or 120 M depending on intensity of Hedgriculture required in the field.
Advantages would be increased in-field diversity , Homes for beneficials, food for pollinators ( eg Blackthorn is good early season pollen for Bees ) extra carbon sequestration per unit land area, easy EFA solution now pulse crops no longer a sensible option, reduction in surface windspeed for more spraying days, reduction of evapotranspiration in dry times, reduction in field waterlogging/ surface erosion in wet times,
In short all the benefits of Agroforestry but much less issues with crop shading and management of trees as most farms geared up for annual hedgetrim already.Also would not require such a massive mindset change as Agroforestry as not quite as drastic as planting trees in 'good arable fields'. Only disadvantage compared with Agroforestry is that there is no commercial return from Fruit, Nut or timber sales with Hedgriculture ( Although not really a disadvantage because the financial returns from Tree products in Agroforestry only really cancel out the annual crop yield reductions due to shading as the trees mature.)
Whats not to like................