Eves Hill Farm in Norfolk launches agroforestry project

Eves Hill Farm at Booton, near Reepham, now has more than 4,000 hybrid willows in 6km of strips within arable fields.

The rows are 100m apart to allow farm machinery to cultivate and harvest crops of wheat and barley between the trees.

Farmer Jeremy Buxton said the fast-growing trees will protect arable soils from wind erosion and create biodiverse wildlife corridors and habitats - while producing a valuable extra crop of wood chips.

Agroforestry involves growing arable crops between rows of trees - Picture: Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

The first chip harvest is expected in three years, which will initially be composted to add to the farm's home-made plant nutrition. But the long-term goal is to burn it in an on-site energy plant to generate renewable heat and electricity to take the whole business "off grid".

Carbon emissions and climate change are major focal points for the agriculture sector, with "net-zero" targets sparking discussions over sequestration strategies as well as the potential to trade carbon credits to offset pollution in other sectors.

But Mr Buxton said his goal is to make his own business carbon neutral - including the food in its new farm shop, opened in November.

"If we think about the amount of carbon these trees are going to be pulling out of the atmosphere, we can advertise that in our retail business," he said.

"We are not interested in selling our carbon credits. We want to use it so shoppers can shop here in the knowledge that our products have zero carbon footprint.

"We are offsetting it on-farm through the agroforestry and the orchard and everything else we are doing."

A new pick-your-own orchard was also planted at Eves Hill last month, containing 273 apple, pear and plum trees which Mr Buxton said could sequester as much as 10 tonnes of carbon per year.

Fruit trees being planted for the new pick-your-own orchard at Eves Hill Farm near Reepham - Picture: Jeremy Buxton (Image: Jeremy Buxton)

The tree-planting initiatives are the latest parts of a complex jigsaw of "regenerative farming" measures aiming to reduce the diverse farm's use of synthetic chemicals and make it less vulnerable to external pressures, such as high energy bills or volatile commodity prices.

One of the crops being sown this spring between the agroforestry strips will be the farm's first "poly-crop" of wheat and beans grown in the same field.

The wheat will be milled into flour and the secondary crop of beans are legumes which can fix nitrogen in the soil, reducing the need for artifical fertiliser.

It will be supplied to Wildfarmed, a company which works with farmers embracing regenerative approaches to improve farm biodiversity and soil health, without the use of herbicides or pesticides.

"We wanted to do it because it fits very well with our regenerative journey and we are moving away from using chemicals," said Mr Buxton. "Wildfarmed's values are identical to our own.

"There is a risk with all this diversification, because it is a lot of change of management practices. But by having a very diverse farm we are mitigating risk across the whole business. 

"We are really taking control of our farming and how we do it, getting away from global commodity prices. It keeps the produce in the country and within the community.

"Under Wildfarmed's growing protocols we are not allowed to use any chemicals, so we are speeding up the regeneration transition and the soil health.

"And we are buying back the produce from Wildfarmed and selling it through the shop, so that's another circular benefit."

Jeremy Buxton with hybrid willow trees planted as part of an agroforestry venture at Eves Hill Farm near Reepham - Picture: Denise Bradley (Image: Denise Bradley)