Question: What's stopping more farmers practicing silvoarable/agroforestry?

Goldilocks

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Oxfordshire
I am not surprised.... What does it bring to HIS party? Short, or long term?
He can sleep better at night knowing he is contributing to the greater good......................
P.s. My dilema is even more stressy than yours : On a sunny day,Farming, Motorcycling or Paragliding . ( Unfortunately Farming always seems to be the necessary choice ... )
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Something to do after harvest instead of cultivating.

How do you make this magic bio char?

burn in the absence of oxygen (charcoal basically) keeps the carbon locked in rather than released as co2 - make energy from the heat and the by product is an amazing soil amendment as pioneered by the incas creating to some of the planets most fertile soils
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
He can sleep better at night knowing he is contributing to the greater good......................

P.s. My dilema is even more stressy than yours : On a sunny day,Farming, Motorcycling or Paragliding . ( Unfortunately Farming always seems to be the necessary choice ... )

I feel your pain...

I did seem to have more time for the leisure pursuits 9-10 yrs ago, but somehow, I have gone backwards... :)
 

N.Yorks.

Member
Absolutely not interested in this kind of mumbo jumbo. Not without a level of free money that would put me in the "well-paid park keeper " bracket.
You can't sniff at 10 t/ha WW off the Wakelyns Agroforestry in Suffolk!! No inputs..... except maintaining the system I suppose. The systems have a higher 'Land Use Effficiency" ie. the sum of the parts of the production system output more than if the same area was used to only produce one output.... this is a way of increasing output for sure. I'm talking 'silvo-arable' agroforestry here so trees and crops, not sticking a few trees in a paddock and say its agroforestry because the stock get shade and to nibble a few low branches. AF can mean a number of different things to different people unfortunately.
 

N.Yorks.

Member
Also make biochar from the chipping. Got to be better than just filling ditches up with crap every few years

Think you're better chipping the wood and applying that direct fresh onto cropped soils - think they call it Ramial Woodchip. Obviuously not overdoing it..... C:N ratio and all that.
 

N.Yorks.

Member
Its not the felling thats the problem, its the requirement to replant. Felling any amount of trees requires a felling licence and that will always contain the condition that the trees are replanted. Fruit trees are the only exemption from this, you can grub out orchards, presumably on the grounds they are a food production system, not timber or amenity. Thus in the UK land planted with trees (other than fruit trees) becomes de facto trees forever, as you will never be allowed to fell them without agreeing to replant anew.
They're pollarding and coppicing in some AF systems.... woodchip goes for biomass and some been spread direrctly back to land to increase SOM.
 

teslacoils

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
It looks a complete bloody ballache designed by those who like getting grants for buggering about with faddy ideas.

High output fine. What about the input? I'm sure it's ace in countries where a farm is for subsistence. But not for me.
 

N.Yorks.

Member
i would love to do it

what stopping me ? a viable and consistent market from the trees that doesn’t add loads of complexity to a business i’ve tried to simplify as much as possible to maintain viability

Yes but it's the diversity of the system that increases the Land Use Efficiency........ reduced complexity today doesn't mean that's right tomorrow?

It's diversity in your soil that is driving your output...... don't just subscribe to diversity in the soil as there are also benefits above ground too......

Have you got a biomass boiler at home/buildings? - Biomass woodchip.
Want to increase soil carbon? - Woodchip spread on arable soil (could be nice incentives soon?)
Alders in the system? - fix N into cropped alleyways, different to legumes,reduced miuneral N use (could be nice incentives soon?)
Trees? - reduced wind exposure and better micro climate in alleys if planted at correct angle (N,S,E,W) so sunlight isn't lost to crop.
Trees? - home for beneficials that spread into crop to reduce pest burden and maintain an equilibrium at a point that doesn't require intervention. (IPM - could be nice incentives soon?)
Tree roots? - operate at depth to mine nutrients, leaves break down in soil/cropped alleys?
 

IFarmers

Member
Trade
What's your angle on this? Looks like you joined TFF yesterday.......

Been meaning to join for ages and finally got round to it yesterday! Really impressed by the up front and lively atmosphere so hoping to post more. Innovative Farmers often get results from various agroecological practices being researched by farmers in field labs that it would be worth putting here for discussion.

As we're a network and Im on the comms staff (Dan Iles) - I'm not sure my opinion on agroforestry is relevant. But I have forwarded to colleagues - Ben Raskin and Jerry Alford (and others) who have technical experience and might have replies to some of the above.

However - we're always interested in the practical reality of ideas like agroforestry. So hearing farmer experience is key. Farmers taking on ideas that might look good on paper and transposing them to practical, realistic, farm-fit techniques is what we're about. We're hoping to have a field lab on silvoarable starting soon actually with 8 farmers in Devon. But details still being worked out. So will be able to relay evidence on this as it comes.
 

N.Yorks.

Member
Been meaning to join for ages and finally got round to it yesterday! Really impressed by the up front and lively atmosphere so hoping to post more. Innovative Farmers often get results from various agroecological practices being researched by farmers in field labs that it would be worth putting here for discussion.

As we're a network and Im on the comms staff (Dan Iles) - I'm not sure my opinion on agroforestry is relevant. But I have forwarded to colleagues - Ben Raskin and Jerry Alford (and others) who have technical experience and might have replies to some of the above.

However - we're always interested in the practical reality of ideas like agroforestry. So hearing farmer experience is key. Farmers taking on ideas that might look good on paper and transposing them to practical, realistic, farm-fit techniques is what we're about. We're hoping to have a field lab on silvoarable starting soon actually with 8 farmers in Devon. But details still being worked out. So will be able to relay evidence on this as it comes.

Just looked up your Innovative Farmers website, interesting stuff.
 

IFarmers

Member
Trade
Been meaning to join for ages and finally got round to it yesterday! Really impressed by the up front and lively atmosphere so hoping to post more. Innovative Farmers often get results from various agroecological practices being researched by farmers in field labs that it would be worth putting here for discussion.

As we're a network and Im on the comms staff (Dan Iles) - I'm not sure my opinion on agroforestry is relevant. But I have forwarded to colleagues - Ben Raskin and Jerry Alford (and others) who have technical experience and might have replies to some of the above.

However - we're always interested in the practical reality of ideas like agroforestry. So hearing farmer experience is key. Farmers taking on ideas that might look good on paper and transposing them to practical, realistic, farm-fit techniques is what we're about. We're hoping to have a field lab on silvoarable starting soon actually with 8 farmers in Devon. But details still being worked out. So will be able to relay evidence on this as it comes.

Correction - field lab starting soon will be on silvopasture not silvoarable!
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
burn in the absence of oxygen (charcoal basically) keeps the carbon locked in rather than released as co2 - make energy from the heat and the by product is an amazing soil amendment as pioneered by the incas creating to some of the planets most fertile soils
So can you then chuck it on the muckheap, mix and spread?
 

Bogweevil

Member
Walnuts - late leafing, early leaf fall, thinnish canopy, means reduced light competition, good demand for crop, your heirs/landlord get valuable timber. Free field of fire for squirrels compared to plantation crops. Unsuited to potatoes though, allelopathy. Walnuts used to be widely grown in some districts; vale of taunton, Kentish claspnuts?, Essex. Research being done in Belgium I believe. God, how I love a pickled walnut.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
A variation on that theme is to stop trimming hedges and coppice say a tenth every 10 years or a fithteenth every 15.

You take out the firewood, chip the brush for added carbon and save on hedge trimming. Plus you get 15 different stages of maturity for bio diversity.
I did read somewhere on the internet that hedges used to used for firewood production, so sounds to me like a win win (just a bit (lot) more physical work to coppice and chip). Hey maybe then make biochar from the wood chips and add to the soil.
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
I did read somewhere on the internet that hedges used to used for firewood production, so sounds to me like a win win (just a bit (lot) more physical work to coppice and chip). Hey maybe then make biochar from the wood chips and add to the soil.
We did one a couple of years ago. Next time I would use a shear grab and a chipper, not too much work compared to chainsaw and (I'm ashamed to say) that we burnt the tops as well, foolishly. Waste of carbon.

Also it's surprising how much wood there is in a hedge.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,292
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top