Hundreds of farmers and foresters can discover the benefits of farming with trees for sustainable food production in the UK’s first Agroforestry Show.
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, Tillhill, 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.
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
Nikki Yoxall and partner ©Clem Sandison
