Bringing farmers and foresters together at ICF conference

Increased integration between farmers and foresters will be promoted at a conference organised by the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) in April.

The ICF’s National Conference 2023: Connecting Trees, Farmers and Foresters will encourage rural sector stakeholders to have a frank, honest and engaged discussion about the integration of trees into farming and foster a mutually beneficial relationship between forestry and farming.

For speaker Nikki Yoxall, farmer and head of research for Pasture For Life, silvopasture was the “saving grace” when she and her husband started building a farming enterprise. She hopes the conference will galvanise policymakers into streamlining the tree-planting process.

Louise Simpson, executive director of the ICF, said: “Farmers and foresters are often portrayed in opposition. However, we are only going to reach climate change targets if we work together. We hope this groundbreaking conference will promote partnership and collaboration between the sectors, raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities and explore the multiple benefits, both economic and environmental, of integrating trees into farms, from small plantations and silvopasture to larger-scale agroforestry.

“This is not about foresters talking at farmers and telling them what to do; we want to stimulate an honest and frank debate. Farming and forestry are both vital, from the food we eat to the clothes that keep us warm and the homes we live in, as well as flood prevention, increases in biodiversity and climate change mitigation.”

Conference chair Sir Harry Studholme, former Forestry Commission chairman, said: “‘Plant more trees’ is a deceptive slogan. Easy to say, harder to do - nearly every bit of land is used for something. In the countryside, most land is used is to grow food. Forestry’s conversation with farming is both inevitable and important.

“Farmers have fair questions about planting, some cultural, on how the landscape looks and how communities might change, some economic around productivity, and how we fund jobs to keep our landscape alive.

“At the same time, farming is changing fast. The Common Agricultural Policy is unwinding, trade barriers melting away and environmental responsibilities increasing. With these changes comes pressure on businesses. Forestry can help but to do so foresters and farmers must work together - this conference will explore how building better connections can benefit both.”

Tom Bradshaw, deputy president of the National Farmers Union, said: “Landscape trees, hedgerow trees and woodlands are an integral part of the farmed countryside but, due to various barriers, they are often an unmanaged resource and a lost opportunity for farmers. I look forward to speaking at this conference and hope the event helps address these barriers, enabling farmers to access the opportunities.”

Ms Yoxall, a first-generation beef farmer running Grampian Graziers with her husband in Aberdeenshire, said: “I would really like this conference to galvanise policymakers into easing the tree planting process, they need to watch and listen to the experts in the room. Farmers and foresters have the answers. We know what we need to do. Give us the resources, space and policy to get on and do it.”

A firm supporter of integrating trees into the farming landscape, spreading the word through #cowsintrees on social media, she said. “Trees are a central part of our ecosystem. As new entrants, silvopasture has been our saving grace and it has allowed us to create a profitable business.”

She said: “The discourse is changing. Historically, there has been an either-or approach but people are realising the additional benefits trees bring to livestock and I think farmers are recognising they can have the best of both worlds.

“However, the policy landscape remains one or the other. Existing schemes are all far too dense and that puts farmers off, understandably unwilling to lose productive land. There is a middle ground but there is limited infrastructure or support and often farmers have to carry the burden financially for agroforestry schemes.”

A Scotland’s Finest Woods winner (Young People’s Farm Woodland Award, 2021), she said it was also important to bring farmers and foresters together to share localised knowledge, from different growth patterns and potential problems to benefits such as increases in biodiversity.

The event will be held at Edgbaston Stadium on April 25 and 26, with online tickets also available for those unable to attend in person but who still wish to engage with the conference. For further information and tickets, visit Home | National Conference 2023: Connecting Trees, Farmers and Foresters - April 25, 2023 (pheedloop.com).

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