Agroforestry Design Masterclass (2 Day Intensive)

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 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.

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

GREAT Project Participants

As part of the project we can offer subsidised places to existing and aspiring farmers, growers and advisers in Gloucestershire to the suite of regenerative agriculture and agroecological transition courses at FarmED. To book, please select the GREAT ticket option below. You will be asked for a few eligibility details including evidence of your involvement in regenerative agriculture and your potential impact in Gloucestershire.

More information and booking

Dates:  8th and 9th of September, each day running from 9am till 5.30pm

If you require more information on 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 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 agroforestry project developer with PRETATERRA, specialising in supporting farmers design, implement and manage commercial agroforestry systems. 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. Tirion works with farmers to create agroforestry systems that function efficiently within the needs and constraints of modern farms. 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 production of key ecosystem services. www.pretaterra.com

Image credit:  DEFI-Écologique (CC BY-SA 4.0)