Agroforestry to tackle climate change

Discover how Wakelyns Farm in Suffolk has been exploring a different way of farming for more than 30 years and the benefits of doing so, at this free online talk by environmental expert David Wolfe.

From its early days as a radical experiment started by David’s parents, Ann & Martin Wolfe, to becoming an example of farming practices to help mitigate the climate crisis. Their system is now supported by government policy and new significant farming subsidies should help encourage others to consider a similar approach.

Started in 1994 as a pioneering experiment, the 23-hectare farm grows crops in rows between lines of trees, known as agroforestry. The trees provide shelter and habitat for wildlife, and they help keep the soil healthy. The farm avoids artificial chemicals (organic farming), and its food and other farming produce is grown, cooked or crafted on site for eating and selling there or locally, thus ensuring a short food chain.

Alongside this, it runs several small businesses on the same land, known as enterprise stacking. They collaborate to help one another and share resources, such as a bakery using grain grown on site.

Wakelyns is not just about a raw yield of a commodity crop, it is about producing high-quality food on a farm that is good for wildlife and biodiversity, while supporting the local food economy. It uses a different approach to land management and farming which embraces and promotes people working, living, studying, researching and enjoying the land and all it supports and offers. 
   
David will also discuss plans to secure Wakelyns’ future through charitable ownership, and there will be an opportunity to ask him questions after the main presentation. 

The Details