The inaugural Agroforestry event, held last week on the farm of Soil Association Chief Executive Helen Browning, was a ‘blazing success’ in every sense. Organised jointly by The Woodland Trust and The Soil Association, visitors ‘enjoyed’ record temperatures and the conference tents were packed by the sell-out crowd.
From a NexGen perspective, we were especially pleased to see our trial guards on display with Green-tech, Wessex Woodland, The Woodland Trust and Penfold’s Woodland Management Ltd. With visitors coming mainly from the farming sector, there was huge interest in our sheep’s wool tree shelters, especially as we use lower-grade wool, creating a new market for UK-sourced fleeces.
Finally, it was great to meet up with Lee Oliver the new Head of Sustainability at The Woodland Trust – seen here with Richard Gill of Green-tech. This event was his first fact-finding mission, and we look forward to working closely with Lee as he gets to grips with sustainability issues around moving away from plastic to genuinely biodegradable materials in forestry and farming.