EARLIER this year, Stephen Briggs stood up in front of a room of professional foresters and declared that farming and forestry "are not competing". Not so long ago it might have been the kind of thing that had his audience on the phone to the nearest asylum, but the tide is turning. 

With the ease of a man assured of his craft, the director of Abacas Agriculture made a compelling case for the benefits of agroforestry, as he outlined the effect it had had on his Cambridgeshire plot.

Detailing to delegates at the Institute of Chartered Foresters’ flagship national conference how he had planted fruit and nut trees alongside his farming stock, Stephen explained that his trees and crops relied upon water and light at different times.  

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According to Stephen, 1 hectare of mixed use provided the same benefits as 1.4 ha of divided land. 

His words came to mind today when reading about a new publication from Woodland Trust Scotland and Soil Association Scotland, which wants to see the 'artificial divisions' between the two sectors to end. 

Launched at the Royal Highland Show, it calls on the Scottish government to urgently review funding to support growing more trees on farms and says there needs to be a "well-funded advice structure" to help farmers into agroforestry.

Arina Russell, Woodland Trust Scotland policy and advocacy manager, said: “Getting more trees in the landscape is one of the simplest measures we can take in response to the dual climate and nature emergencies.

“Although there are examples of farmers and crofters ​enthusiastically embracing tree planting, they remain a minority. Many farmers have never considered tree planting, while others view trees as being in direct competition to agricultural production and to the survival of farming or croft itself."

Stephen's example shows it can be done. However, an overwhelmingly negative social media response from farmers to a Forestry Journal picture of trees being planted on land shows we might just have some way to go yet. 

This piece is an extract from today’s Forestry Latest News newsletter, which is emailed out at 4PM every Friday with a round-up of the week's top stories. 

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