Agroforestry Design Masterclass

Looking to integrate trees into your farming business but don’t know which trees to plant, how many, or where? Unsure about fencing, or how to market your tree products?

In this two-day intensive workshop you will be guided through an intuitive agroforestry design process by some of the UK’s leading agroforestry practitioners, receive 1:1 advice in clinic sessions, and walk away with a detailed agroforestry design for an area of your farm.

Course Content

Whether you are interested in planting trees for food or biomass production, livestock shelter or browse, overall resilience or any other goals, this course will save you time by giving you the skills needed to design your own project as well as easy to use planning tools to take home with you for the future planting.

Hosted by FarmED and facilitated by some of the UK’s leading agroforestry practitioners, this workshop will help you:

● Clarify your objectives for planting trees on a specific area of your farm

● Select tree species based on functional traits that match your objectives

● Decide on planting configurations and design (which tree, where and how many)

● Identify appropriate planting, protection, and other establishment considerations

● Understand how you can utilise agroforestry products on-farm

● Learn about market opportunities for agroforestry products

● Identify financial support available for tree planting

● Create an implementable agroforestry design for a priority area on your farm

The workshop will include a mixture of inspiring talks, group discussions, farm walks, farm design activities, and 1:1 clinic sessions with the facilitators to refine your agroforestry design.

Who is this course for? 

This course has been designed for farmers, growers, land-managers, and advisors who are embarking on new agroforestry initiatives. Places are limited as we are offering this course to 12 farm businesses, with a maximum of three places per business. Tickets are priced per person.

What have previous participants said about this course?

"You have an incredible bunch of people at FarmEd and it's one of the  most inspiring and creative places I have visited in a while" - 2021 Agroforestry Design Masterclass Participant

"A fantastic mix of activities and content, great interactions between attendees" - 2021 Agroforestry Design Masterclass Participant

Tiered Pricing 

Delivery of our mission is a collective effort and our values embrace inclusivity and diversity. We don’t want price to be a barrier to anyone visiting FarmED or attending our events. Read more about our tiered pricing policy here.

The FarmED Bursary 

If funding is a barrier to you, we can help. We have a small bursary pot which we can use to help fund or part fund course fees and other expenses for those that will benefit most.

Click here for more info: www.farm-ed.co.uk/bursaries

RTL Sponsorship 

We have recieved kind sponsorship from a supporter of the Reimagining The Levels (RTL) for a farmer or landowner specifically from Somerset who is interested in implimenting Agroforestry on their land. Please email sophie@farm-ed.co.uk if you are interseted in taking this fully sponsered place (note: does not include travel or accomodation costs). 

More information and booking

If you require more information about courses at FarmED please email sophie@farm-ed.co.uk.

Your booking is safe. If we cannot run any element of the training face to face due to COVID-19 restrictions, you will be refunded, or you can switch to an alternative course/date.

Tickets are priced per person and include course materials, refreshments and two hot lunches.

Speakers 

Ben Raskin is Head of Horticulture and agroforestry at the Soil Association, co-chair of Defra’s edible horticultural roundtable and sits on the board of the Organic Growers Alliance and the Community Supported Agriculture Network UK. He was editor of the Soil Association’s ‘Agroforestry Handbook’ and has been managing a 200 acre silvopastoral agroforestry system at Eastbrook Farm since 2016. www.benraskin.com

Niels Corfield has been working to deliver truly sustainable food and farming systems for more than 15 years. He is a researcher, adviser, educator, designer and tree nurseryman. He has 12 years’ experience teaching adults and is formally trained in Holistic Management and Regenerative Agriculture Design. On a mission to create regenerative landscapes and farms in the UK and Europe, Niels focuses on agroecological systems that are low maintenance yet productive. www.nielscorfield.com

Tirion Keatinge is an independent agroforestry project developer. He supports farmers to design, implement and manage agroforestry systems that fit their specific context. For over 10 years he has worked on farms in the UK, Netherlands and Sweden, and has consulted for farmers in Spain, Indonesia, Côte D’Ivoire, Rwanda and Zambia. Combining farmer-led design with scientific and rational planning processes, he supports creation of agroecosystems that can meet diverse goals including economic viability, improvement of farmer and community livelihoods, and the provision and maintenance of key ecosystem services. His own land management projects include small-scale hardwood forestry in S England, hazelnut production, and small-scale horticulture.

Edd Colbert is the Program Coordinator at FarmED and leads on our agroforestry work. He created the Living Textbook of Agroforestry at FarmED, a series of demonstration areas designed to inspire and educate land stewards about the principles and practicalities of agroforestry. He holds an MSc in Agroecology and has worked with farmers across Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.