Tree Resilience Project Seeks Farmers for Paid Research Opportunity

The Organic Research Centre is part of a project that’s working towards developing better guidance and tools to help land managers look after and benefit from the trees on their farms, taking into account the increasing pressure all our trees face from climate change and tree health issues.

They want to work with a team of farmers to:

• Understand the value that trees provide to farmers like you, how farmers are already managing their trees and responding to potential threats to their survival – as well as any barriers to taking action;
• Identify and prioritise potential solutions to overcome some of these barriers and help to ensure that trees continue to be a valuable asset of the farming system into the future;
• Help ensure that the solutions developed in this project work for farmers like you.

The two events:

The ORC are seeking 12 farmers from the North of England (North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber) for a workshop on 27th November 2025, 10am–3:15pm, at Gowbarrow Hall Farm, Cumbria. Participants will receive £100 (inc. VAT), plus travel cost reimbursement, and enjoy complimentary lunch and refreshments.

An addition 12 farmers from the East of England (East Anglia, Essex, Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire) – especially those in cereals, cropping, horticulture, or pigs/poultry – are required to join an online workshop via MS Teams on 01 December 2025, 10am–3:15pm. Participants will receive £100 (inc. VAT) for their time.

If you think you can help, please complete the online expression of interest form by Midday 14 Nov, 2025

Workshop places are limited: workshop participants will be drawn from the expressions of interest received via this form. The ORC would like to work with a small number of workshop participants in later stages of the project, and if selected to take part in the workshop then there will be a later opportunity to express interest in continued involvement.

This is a collaborative research project with Forest Research, the FWAG South West, the Countryside and Community Research Institute and the University of Exeter. The project is funded by Defra through the Centre for Forest Protection.