England鈥檚 landscape of wide-open fields may look different in years to come. Most farmers managing some of the country鈥檚 most lucrative agricultural land say they would be willing to plant rows of trees alongside their crops, in a shift that could help the UK meet its net-zero goal.
The UK鈥檚 Climate Change Committee, which advises the government, this way of increasing tree cover while maintaining arable land for food production, known as agroforesty, could remove 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2050. That鈥檚 on top of the 14 million from wider reforestation plans.
at the University of Reading, UK, says that in recent decades agroforestry has been explored by a small group of farmers in the UK. But interest has picked up steeply in the past five years for climate change and biodiversity reasons, he says.
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Now a survey by Lukac and his colleagues of 224 arable farmers across the south-east and east of England 鈥� conducted in 2019 鈥� has shown 60 per cent would consider small agroforestry plantations on their land. This is important because the land in these regions is so rich.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e talking about planting trees on farms, this [the south-east and east] is the hardest nut to crack,鈥� says Lukac. 鈥淏ecause this is agriculture on the best land, this is the most profitable kind of agriculture in the country. So in a way the opportunity cost is the highest.鈥�
Lukac says he was surprised attitudes were so positive towards agroforestry, and suspects the approach may have previously been held back simply by a lack of knowledge among agro-economists, who advise farmers.
If all the farmers delivered on their intent, around 114,000 hectares of new trees might be planted, or about 4.5 per cent of the farmed area in the two regions. England has about 8.3 million hectares of farmland.
The research, which isn鈥檛 yet peer-reviewed, found the four biggest reasons for farmers not considering agroforestry were all financial. They said the returns were too low, the wait for income from trees for timber or nuts too long, capital costs too high and there was a lack of grants for buying and planting saplings in the first place.
The UK government鈥檚 could offer some help when they start fully in 2025, as they are designed to reward 鈥減ublic goods鈥� such as environmental benefits. The old system was largely based on how much land a farmer owned.
In the meantime, Lukac says one of the most popular options for farmers embracing agroforestry is to plant hazelnut and walnut trees, which typically take around three years to start yielding a crop. at research firm BioDiversity International says there are already mature walnut agroforesty plantations in Buckinghamshire, Essex and Warwickshire.
Lukac, who presented his study at , says more research is needed on how people living near farmland would react to a big expansion of agroforestry, as it may not conform with what they expect from more tree-planting to lock away carbon. 鈥淢y hunch is there may be an element of 鈥榶es, absolutely we wanted to plant more trees to save the planet 鈥� but not like that.鈥欌��
Reference: agriRxiv,
