UK’s first Agroforestry Show to explore the perks of farming with trees

The event, hosted by the Woodland Trust and Soil Association and sponsored by lead partner Sainsbury’s, will explore the boost that trees can deliver for nature and climate as well as delivering resilience and productivity for farm businesses.

It will bring together a thousand guests spanning across farmers, foresters, tree nurseries, growers, graziers, advisors, funders, food businesses, policy makers and agroforesters.

Tickets are now on sale for the two-day gathering, on Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 September, which will include:

• Knowledge exchange workshops and inspiring talks
• Farmer and forester led discussions
• Agroforestry field walks
• Live equipment demonstrations
• Exhibitions and market stalls

Soil Association Chief Executive Helen Browning will be hosting the event at Eastbrook Farm, in Wiltshire, where she runs a mixed farm with an agroforestry project that has been running for seven years.

She said: “We are delighted to be working with the Woodland Trust to host the UK’s first ever Agroforestry Show. Agroforestry holds so many of the answers to the climate and nature crises, and it has also been proven to boost farm productivity. Trees improve soil health, provide habitats for wildlife including beneficial insects, give shelter and forage to livestock, and cut carbon emissions. And they do all this while providing additional funding streams through fruit, nuts and timber. Much more than a trade show, this two-day gathering will inspire hundreds of land stewards to collaborate and get involved with agroforestry.”

Agroforestry offers huge opportunities to the forestry sector and this show will be a catalyst to strengthen the relationships between the forestry and farming sectors. Working together the two sectors can identify solutions to help overcome the current knowledge and financial barriers to widescale up take of agroforestry.

The Woodland Trust has a decade of experience in supporting agroforestry and at the show they will highlight how we support landowners and farmers to adopt agroforestry on their land, via a range of subsidised tree offers and expert advice. The trust aims to tap into the demand from farmers wanting to do more for the environment and help to unlock this potential with this event.

Helen Chesshire, Lead Farming Advocate at the Woodland Trust said:

“Having many more trees within our farmed landscapes could bring so much good. Trees make an important contribution to tackling climate change and helping reverse biodiversity declines. Agroforestry supports farm businesses to adapt to climate change and become more resilient to the types of financial, social and environmental shocks that are likely to be a part of the future.

“This event is about making trees work for farm businesses and the local environment that they operate within and rely on. It is a sign of hope that there are solutions to grasp - if we take them. We will highlight this and more at September’s show.”

The event, also sponsored by the Forestry Commission, Defra, Tilhill, Farm Carbon Toolkit and Royal Forestry Society, comes hot on the heels of a ground-breaking report, funded by the Woodland Trust, which showed how a major increase in agroforestry – farming with trees - in England, is essential if the country is to meet nature and climate targets, whilst at the same time securing long term food production.

The report was developed from new analysis commissioned from Cranfield University which revealed arable farms that integrate trees within arable crops – known as silvoarable systems – could lock up eight tonnes of CO2 per hectare per year over 30 years. Eight tonnes of CO2 is equivalent to the annual emissions of an UK citizen.

Buy your tickets now (https://www.agroforestryshow.com/tickets)

Two-day tickets are offered on a tiered ticket scale to make this event as accessible and affordable as possible. Single day tickets will become available when the event program is launched. Early bird tickets are available now but will go fast.

A limited number of bursary funded places are also available for those who require additional support to attend the event. Get in touch for more information at: info@agroforestryshow.com

Want to get involved? Exhibitor details here: (https://www.agroforestryshow.com/sponsor-and-exhibitor-info)

Notes to editors

For more details on this event, contact Andy Bond in the Woodland Trust press office on 07725480434 or Sophie Nixon in the Soil Association press office on snixon@soilassociation.org or 07930991804.

Benefits of agroforestry

• Link to Woodland Trust report – https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/publications/2022/11/farming-for-the-future/ Establishing silvopastoral agroforestry on 30% of UK grassland (3.35 million hectares; 84,000 hectares per year for 40 years starting in 2022) would result in net zero emissions from the grassland sector by 2050, and a net sequestration rate of 21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year by 2062.
• Videos, reports and case studies: Agroforestry On Your Farm (soilassociation.org)
• Agroforestry is 20–30% more productive than monoculture farming systems and can reduce lamb mortality by up to 50%: the-agroforestry-handbook.pdf (soilassociation.org)

Agroforestry expertise on offer at the event

• The Agroforestry Show will benefit from the expertise of the Woodland Trust and the Soil Association, which combined have 126 years’ experience in sustainable farming and forestry. Their knowledge spans across woodland, habitat and tree management and practical farm-based knowledge from decades of helping landowners to make the most of woodlands and helping farmers to adopt nature-friendly farming practices.
• Both organisations are supporting seven farms in Devon who are taking part in the Innovative Farmers silvopasture field lab – the largest participatory research project to date looking at integrating trees and livestock.
• In 2019 both organisations worked together to publish the Agroforestry Handbook, which has been downloaded nearly 7,000 times. This followed a joint report on Agroforestry in England published 2018, which the Soil Association followed with a new report last year on Trees and Woodland in the Farmed Landscape.

About the Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK. It has over 500,000 supporters. It wants to see a UK rich in native woods and trees for people and wildlife.

The Trust has three key aims:

• protect ancient woodland, which is rare, unique and irreplaceable
• restoration of damaged ancient woodland, bringing precious pieces of our natural history back to life
• plant native trees and woods with the aim of creating resilient landscapes for people and wildlife.

Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 29,000 hectares. Access to its woods is free so everyone can benefit from woods and trees.

About the Soil Association

Soil Association is a leading sustainable food and farming charity. Since 1946 the organisation has impacted millions of people, creating practical, nature-based solutions to recover climate, nature and health through sustainable and regenerative food, farming and forestry. We promote the connection between people, food, and the natural world, lobbying government on key environmental policies, helping to serve millions of certified school meals and engaging thousands in farmer-led research. We have a network of spokespeople on farming and food topics who can provide expert comment and share their experiences. This includes organic farmer Helen Browning OBE, who is Chief Executive of the Soil Association Group. The Chair of Trustees is Martin Nye and Soil Association Limited is registered as a charity in England and Wales no. 206862 and as a charity in Scotland no. SC039168. Registered as a company no. 00409726.

About Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury's has supported the Woodland Trust since 2004 with the launch of free-range Woodland eggs. Since then, donations through product sales have expanded to chicken, turkey, apples and bags for life. The partnership has helped the Woodland Trust to plant over 4.8 million trees, including establishing a special Sainsbury’s Wood at The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood in Leicestershire and supporting the Woodland Trust’s First World War Centenary Woods project. The partnership has also enabled the Woodland Trust to provide support and advice to Sainsbury’s on tree planting and maintenance for farmers across the UK.