A 12-year project involving seven farms in the UK is hoping to discover how much silvopasture systems are benefiting soil carbon by planting thousands of trees and testing the soil at regular intervals. Scientists will also monitor the impact on animal health and behaviour once the trees are established.
“A near future of climatic changes is one reason Henry Andrews has added 5,000 trees to his 120-acre beef cattle farm in west Devon. Improving the health of his animals is another motivation for taking part in the trial. “We’ve forgotten what our forebears used to do,” he says. “Silvopasture was a huge part of farming. We relied on hedgerows to provide shelter. They got ripped out for larger fields to try to be progressive but in hindsight it was regressive.”
Henry Andrews | The Guardian
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