Time for farmers to branch out for change

He was in Yorkshire for a Woodland Trust event aimed at farmers. "Seventy percent of the UK's land is agriculture, so if you want to plant more trees then farmers needed to be persuaded that it's a good thing to do so. We won't get anywhere near those targets unless farmers can play a part."

The day long session at Hunton near Bedale was organised by Farming Futures. This was the chosen venue because it is close to a farm which has taken up the Woodland Trust's offer of free saplings, and advice on planting. It's a dairy farm run by Ruth Simpson who is enthusiastic about the idea of using trees to improve her farm.

"We've planted three and a half thousand trees last winter," she says. "Two and a half thousand are Italian alder which are very fast growing – they are nitrogen fixing, so they are going to reduce the amount of nitrogen we have to put on the land.

"That means a huge saving. Woodland planting creates shelter so the cows are much warmer, the grass is going to grow quicker and they're going to produce more milk." In some cases shelter belts may allow cows, and other livestock to be kept outside for longer during the year.

"But this also depends on the condition of the land itself, and how wet it is."There's a huge amount that woodland management, or planting new woodland, can do to help farmers protect themselves against the effects of climate change," says Claire Wyatt from Farming Futures. "Elements of tree planting have huge benefits - shade and shelter protection - and flood protection because trees can suck up all that excess rainfall that we're going to have."

John Tucker is keen to sell other benefits to farmers. "In terms of wood fuel, energy prices are rising, I've talked to a lot of people today who are very interested in wood fuel, both for their own buildings that they own and also to sell."

A major theme of the planting workshop was reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the role growing trees could play.

One of the speakers at the event was Peter Harper from the pioneering Centre for Alternative Technology based in Mid-Wales. He pointed out that biomass (growing wood for burning) is only carbon neutral. "You suck up the CO2, but you put all back again." He would prefer to see the wood grown by farmers used in the building trade instead.

But not everyone listening was convinced by these arguments. Peter Sayer, who has a small livestock farm at Brompton on Swale, said, "I don't agree with putting it on good farmland. There's plenty of poor farmland to put trees on. I don't care what they say, trees harbour flies. I'm a dairy farmer and the biggest problem you get in summer is mastitis and it's caused by flies crawling around in the cows teats."

Others were more enthusiastic. Mike Weighell, who farms a mixture of arable and sheep near Stokesley, said, "I've always been a fan of trees. I've planted over twelve and a half thousand trees and shrubs on the farm over the last ten years."

He says this has been partly to take poor land out of arable production and put it into environmental schemes. He also sees the timber both as a building material and a fuel. "I'm nuts about renewables. I'm getting my own 11Kw wind turbine installed before Christmas, the trees we've planted are in Game Conservancy guidance on shelter belt production, so you're getting a wildlife benefit.

"We have a small non-commercial shoot, so there's a whole range of range of benefits that you would get from the shelter belts."

John Tucker says persuading farmers to plant trees on unproductive land is vital, both for them, and for the environment. "If we look at climate change and what that's going to bring, one of the most cost-effective ways of taking carbon out of the atmosphere is through tree planting, you can get a good source of wood fuel, you can help look after your soil. There are so many benefits, why aren't more people doing it?"

Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust is the UK's leading woodland conservation charity.

FIND OUT THE FACTS

The Woodland Trust can offer advice and in some cases funding toward the planting of trees on farmland under their MOREwoods scheme.

The scheme is available to farmers wanting to plant at least one hectare (2.5 acres) but that could comprise a number of smaller areas.

Further information on why you should plant trees and how along with loads more information visit www.moretreesmoregood.org.uk call 0845 293 5689 or e-mail morewoods@woodlandtrust.