Agroforestry Through the Elements – Agricology Podcast
Project Background
This season explores agroforestry through a fresh lens, using the elements as a framework to deepen understanding and challenge assumptions around trees on farms. Grounding each episode around the themes of water, fire, earth, air, and people offers a dynamic and exciting way to explore individual topics in greater depth, while emphasising the fundamentally interconnected nature of agroforestry systems.
Throughout the series, which was largely recorded at the Agroforestry Show in September 2025 with guest podcaster Wallace Currie, we hear from a diverse mix of farmers, researchers and advisors whose stories and expertise highlight the wide range of ways trees and hedgerows can shape farming systems for the better, alongside a recognition of the potential challenges and trade-offs.
While each episode focuses on a specific theme, the overarching aim is to explore how trees on farms contribute to more than just individual functions, holding the ability to transform whole landscapes and ecosystems. In other words, the true power of agroforestry lies in the way its parts interact, creating effects that are more than the sum of their elements.
Aims & Approach
The series sets out to challenge and explore the following threads:
- How trees help manage water on farms – by improving infiltration and storage to effectively buffer arable land and pasture against flood risk and drought. We hear from researchers carrying out in-field trials and look at practical tree care tips and broader system design principles.
- Energy in the system – from firewood and biomass to nutrient cycling and carbon flow. Guests discuss how trees and hedgerows can play a major role in creating low-input, circular systems with lasting returns for both farm and climate
- How trees improve soil biology, structure and fertility. We explore how agroforestry systems can restore life below ground, support nutrient cycling, and offer long-term benefits for productivity, ecology and climate resilience.
- How trees shape airflow, shelter crops and livestock, and support vital pollinators. Guests discuss how agroforestry can change local conditions and how this has benefited the health of their soil and their animals.
- The educational and social dimensions that shape how agroforestry is understood and adopted, and the importance of co-design, community networks, shared knowledge, and long-term relationships in building agroforestry systems that work for both land and livelihoods.
Project outputs
Explore each of the episodes below…
Latest episode
Episode 5
People
– In Conversation With Andy Dibben, Bid Webb and Jonathan Code
The last episode of the series dives into the human element of agroforestry. Wallace Currie welcomes Andy Dibben, Bid Webb and Jonathan Code who focus on the educational and social dimensions that shape how agroforestry is understood and adopted. We explore the importance of co-design, community networks, shared knowledge, and long-term relationships in building agroforestry systems that work for both land and livelihoods.
Andy Dibben
First we hear from Andy Dibben – a renowned grower, market gardener and author with many years of horticultural experience. He is currently the Head Grower at Abbey Home Farm in Gloucestershire where a third of the fruit and vegetable production area is under an agroforestry system. Andy and Wallace discuss the role of building community and engaging local people in agroforestry projects, and the benefits that this approach can offer for both farmers and the wider population.
Bid Webb
Next is Bid Webb, a lecturer in agroforestry at Bangor University with a background in ecological monitoring, pollution prevention and conservation land management. As well as teaching students at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, Bid also leads on equality, diversity and inclusion within the Forestry Group, and runs a project called Foresters of the Future which aims to engage young people from underrepresented or disadvantaged backgrounds with trees and the natural environment.
Jonathan Code
Our last guest is Dr Jonathan Code, a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Land Management at the Royal Agricultural University. Jonathan’s research work focuses on education for sustainability, with particular attention to the interface between society and the environment. The conversation delves into the philosophical elements of agroforestry and is guaranteed to challenge, surprise, inspire, and leave you with plenty of food for thought!
Listen to the episode here
Episode 4
Air
– In Conversation With Martin Crawford, Helen Browning and Will Simonson
In this episode we take a detailed look at the theme of ‘Air’ – an ethereal element with very tangible impacts for farmers, growers and livestock. We are joined by Martin Crawford, Helen Browning and Will Simonson to explore how trees can shape airflow, shelter crops and livestock, and support vital pollinators. They discuss how agroforestry can change local conditions dramatically, and how this can benefit the health of the soil and livestock.
Martin Crawford
We begin with a conversation with one of the most recognisable names in the agroforestry movement – world-renowned perennial food-system researcher, designer, author, and educator Martin Crawford. Martin designed and runs a forest garden on the Dartington Estate and founded The Agroforestry Research Trust in 1992. He talks about how an understanding of airflow should underpin system design, and how planting trees as shelter can benefit your crops, pollinating insects and livestock.
Helen Browning
Helen Browning is Chief Executive of the Soil Association, runs an organic food and drink brand and family farm on the Wiltshire/ Oxfordshire border, is a Commissioner and Trustee of the Food Farming and Countryside Commission, and an agroforestry pioneer. In 2016 she planted thousands of trees at Lower Farm to gauge the effects of integrating productive trees into farmland, with a view to improving overall productivity while enhancing wildlife and protecting soils.
Will Simonson
We round off this penultimate episode of the season with a candid conversation with Dr Will Simonson from the Organic Research Centre. Will has a PhD in Forest Ecology and Conservation from the University of Cambridge and is Principal Researcher in Agroforestry. He also sits on the committee for the Farm Woodland Forum, an informal group that aims to facilitate generating and exchanging information that supports best practice and improves opportunities for agroforestry.
Listen to the episode here
Episode 3
Earth
– In Conversation With Thomas Gent and Paul Burgess
This episode investigates how trees improve soil biology, structure and fertility. Wallace Currie is joined by Lincolnshire farmer Thomas Gent and Professor Paul Burgess to explore how agroforestry systems can play a fundamental role in supporting life below ground, supporting nutrient cycling, and offering knock-on benefits for landscape productivity, ecology and climate resilience.
Thomas Gent
Thomas is a fourth generation south Lincolnshire-based farmer and founder of the award-winning Gentle Farming brand. His farming ethos and business are both underpinned by a passion for healthy soils, aiming to drive a regenerative revolution in agriculture and pioneer the creation of UK soil carbon markets.
Paul Burgess
Dr Paul Burgess is Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and Agroforestry at Cranfield University. He has authored or co-authored over 100 papers, published 8 book chapters and edited 3 books. He is currently the co-lead of the UKRI-funded Land Use for Net Zero Footprint project, and a work-package leader for a project called DigitAF that is developing digital tools to support agroforestry.
Listen to the episode here
Episode 2
Fire
– In Conversation With Tom Fairfax and Megan Gimber
In this second episode, Wallace Currie and guests dive into the role of energy in agroforestry systems; from firewood and biomass, to nutrient cycling and carbon flow. They chat passionately about how trees and hedgerows can play a major role in creating low-input, circular systems that support life above and below ground, providing lasting returns for the farm and farmer.
Tom Fairfax
Northumberland-based farmer Tom Fairfax chats about agroforestry as part of the farm productive infrastructure, the link between planting and energy within the agroforestry system (from the level of the soil microbiome to the canopy), how agroforestry is making his system more resilient to extreme weather, the Great Northumberland Forest project, and much more!
Megan Gimber
Self proclaimed “hedge geek” Megan Gimber from People’s Trust for Endangered Species highlights new research into the carbon storage potential of hedgerows, and talks about hedge rejuvenation, the importance of linking hedge carbon with other co-benefits (recognising that a singular focus on carbon can undermine the management that enables all the other co-benefits), and the intrinsic link between biodiversity and climate crisis solutions.
Listen to the episode here
Episode 1
Water
– In Conversation With Ben Raskin, Colin Tosh and Vicki Hird
The first episode of the series focuses on the element of water, exploring how trees impact flood risk, rainfall, soil moisture and much more. Wallace Currie is joined by three guests who each bring their own unique perspective on the topic whilst also sharing their broader agroforestry experience.
Ben Raskin
Ben Raskin, Head of Agroforestry at the Soil Association, author, manager of a 200-acre agroforestry planting project in Wiltshire, and co-organiser of the Agroforestry Show, kicks us off. Ben has over 30 years of farming experience and brings a wealth of knowledge to the conversation about using trees effectively to manage extremes of water in a changing climate.
Colin Tosh
Next is Colin Tosh, Senior Agroforestry Researcher at the Organic Research Centre who brings a great deal of experience in carrying out trials and running research projects across the UK. He talks about his work modelling agroforestry systems to understand how trees impact water on farms through their influence on rainfall interception, soil characteristics, microclimates and more.
Vicki Hird
We finish with a fascinating conversation with Vicki Hird, who wears many hats in her professional life, working as an environmental and farming campaigner, researcher, policy specialist, author, and Strategic Lead on Agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts. She touches on the challenges of water pollution caused by both agriculture and sewage companies and explores how agroforestry can help tackle these issues by reducing sediment run-off. Vicki also talks about her work with lowland peat soils and explains why “more trees mean more water.”
Listen to the episode here
Associated Agricology Partner Organisation(s):
Related posts
