In the evolving countryside of England, a quiet but important transformation is underway. With a growing urgency to tackle climate change, restore biodiversity, and maintain national food security, the government is asking land managers to help shape a new future for the rural landscape.
This April, the Forestry Commission launched a public consultation on how tree planting can be sensitively integrated into productive farmland. It forms part of England’s broader Land Use Framework, a policy designed to guide how land resources will be used in the coming decades to meet environmental and economic goals. With the consultation closing on 25 April 2025, it represents a rare opportunity for farmers, landowners, and conservationists to contribute ideas that could define the character of English agriculture for generations.
Why Trees and Farming Need to Work Together
Historically, farming and forestry have often operated in separate spheres. Agricultural policies of the past, particularly under the old Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), prioritized maximum food production, leading to the removal of trees and hedgerows across much of Britain’s farmland. Yet today, the narrative is shifting dramatically.
Food production remains essential, but the countryside is now expected to deliver a wider array of public benefits: from carbon sequestration and biodiversity restoration to flood mitigation and improved water quality. Trees, if planted wisely and in harmony with farming, could provide all these benefits without sacrificing productivity.
The consultation explicitly seeks feedback on where trees could fit best within active farmland. Suggestions include using marginal areas such as field corners, integrating shelterbelts along field boundaries, planting near rivers to improve water quality, and developing agroforestry systems where crops and livestock coexist with tree cover.
Rather than treating tree planting as an "either-or" trade-off, policymakers are now looking for ways to weave trees into the working fabric of the land — creating multifunctional landscapes that feed both people and ecosystems.
Farmers' Perspectives and Practical Realities
The farming community has responded to the consultation with a mixture of cautious interest and pragmatism. Many farmers see the potential benefits of integrating trees: offering shelter for livestock during heatwaves, improving soil structure, enhancing pollination services, and even diversifying income through timber or nut production.
However, concerns remain. Farmers are wary of losing productive land to inflexible planting schemes, especially when global pressures demand higher food output. There is also skepticism about whether government support will be long-term enough to justify the risk and investment that tree establishment demands.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has emphasized that farmers must be free to choose the scale and design of tree planting that fits their business models, while the National Farmers' Union (NFU) has stressed that agricultural land must retain its primary purpose: to produce food efficiently and sustainably.
Agroforestry pioneers offer some reassurance. Successful examples across the UK demonstrate that integrating trees can enhance farm profitability by improving yields, boosting biodiversity, and building resilience to extreme weather — without necessarily taking significant areas out of production.
Policy Background: A Landscape in Transition
The consultation on integrating trees fits within a broader suite of rural policies aimed at reshaping how land is managed in England. The England Tree Action Plan (2021–2025) set ambitious targets for planting 30,000 hectares of new trees annually across the UK by 2025. Simultaneously, the government’s new Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMs) are designed to reward farmers for delivering public goods, including carbon storage, biodiversity gains, and flood prevention.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), one component of ELMs, already offers payments for actions like improving soil health and maintaining hedgerows. In future, payments could be expanded to specifically support farm-integrated tree planting, making agroforestry a more attractive proposition.
Alongside these schemes, new regulations under the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) framework will also encourage landowners to enhance nature as part of any development or land use change. Trees, once seen as a hindrance to production, are increasingly viewed as a cornerstone of sustainable land management.
Looking Ahead: Trees as Part of the Farm Business
The central question of the consultation is not whether trees should be planted, but how they can be integrated intelligently into the farm business model. Well-sited trees can boost crop pollination, protect soil from erosion, regulate microclimates, and create new revenue opportunities. They can offer resilience in the face of extreme weather and market volatility — issues that are only set to intensify over the next 25 years.
Farmers are being invited to shape the conversation, ensuring that the resulting policies work with their needs, not against them. Flexibility, technical advice, long-term funding, and clear property rights will all be crucial if the vision of tree-rich, productive landscapes is to become reality rather than rhetoric.
As England stands at this crossroads, it is clear that the countryside of the future will not be divided into strict zones of farming versus forestry. Instead, the fields, woods, and riversides will need to work together, creating vibrant, resilient landscapes where food production and nature recovery go hand in hand.
The story of how we plant — and where — will define not just the look of the British countryside, but the legacy we leave for generations to come.
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