Agroforestry on your farm

Agroforestry is a practice of farming that combines trees and livestock or crops together. This  may be in the form of hedgerows, tree clumps or strips, trees planted round the edges of fields, or even bringing livestock into existing woodland.

Below are short documentary films, practical resources and articles you’ll find helpful when thinking about implementing agroforestry systems on your farm.

The Agroforestry Handbook, Second Edition

Updated in September 2025 by leading UK agroforestry experts Ben Raskin, Paul Burgess, Steven Newman, Tim Pagella, Jo Smith, Sally Westaway, Clive Thomas, Stephen Briggs, Ian Knight and Lindsay Whistance.

Order your copy directly from publishers 5M Books.

Agroforestry and farm woodlands e-learning

Learn about system design and management and how to get started

The Agroforestry Show 2025

Wednesday 10th to Thursday 11th September

at Woodoaks Farm, Maple Cross, Hertfordshire

Join us, in partnership with the Woodland Trust, for the second Agroforestry Show.

Full line up on the website

Film: Agroforestry in the Uplands

Through the eyes of three farmers, in Devon, Brecon and Perthshire, this short documentary explores the benefits of agroforestry on upland farms.

Trees and hedgerows provide shade and shelter for livestock, but they also improve soil health, capture carbon and encourage wildlife and biodiversity.

Agroforestry systems also makes financial sense for farm businesses.

Become a farming ambassador

Are you a farmer or advisor passionate about agroforestry and keen to have an impact?

Become an ambassador and be part of our mission to change farming one tree at a time.

Join an agroforestry network

Find out more about how other farmers in your area are integrating trees into their land.

Film: Agroforestry in the UK

Combining trees with crops or livestock is more productive, better for wildlife and healthier for the planet, but only 3% of the UK’s farmland currently practices agroforestry.

Find out how we’re working with farmers to achieve our goal of over half of UK farms having agroforestry systems in place by 2030 in this agroforestry documentary video.

Silvopasture tree planting designs to suit your farm

Designs for shelter belts, regular spaced strips and open grazed clustered wood pasture.

How silvohorticulture can benefit your farm

Marina O'Connell from Devon's Apricot Centre and Andy Dibben from Abbey Home Farm in Gloucestershire share their experiences.

Benefits of agroforestry on your farm

Find out how agroforestry helps you to:
improve soil health
keep water sources clean
sequester carbon
mitigate floods
increase biodiversity
increase productivity
improve animal welfare
reduce inputs

Agroforestry definitions

Silvo-pastoral agroforestry: grazing animals under trees. The animals enrich the soil while the trees provide shade, shelter and fodder for the animals.

Silvo-arable agroforestry: crops grown beneath or between trees, often in rows which are large enough for a tractor to tend to the crops without damaging the trees. This is farming in 3D, the trees and the crops occupy different levels above ground, below ground where the tree roots will reach down deeper than the crops.

Could trees supplement forage?

Dr Lindsay Whistance, livestock researcher at the Organic Research Centre, asks whether you could look to trees to supplement your forage needs in winter.