Lessons from Pontbren: How Nature and Food Production Can Coexist in Farming
Land use is always a complicated topic. This long-running debate between biodiversity/climate advocates and food production has been flaring up to historic proportions in Wales after the government's move towards its new Sustainable Farming Scheme. This new scheme replaces subsidies that were given purely based on the size of farmable land available with a scheme that rewards sustainable farming.
There has been a lot of misunderstanding around the new requirements. Some interpreters suggest that 10% of farmland needs to be planted with trees; otherwise, farmers' incomes would drop by 10%. This is not quite the case, as the ask is to get tree/hedge cover "up to 10%," with the existing average already being 6-7%. Will adding 3-4% more tree/hedge cover to a farm wreck the potential for food production?
Instead of rhetoric, let's look at a brilliant example: Pontbren, a mould-breaking case study of the benefits of trying something different. But first, let's take a quick look at farming in Wales in general.
What does farming in Wales look like?
Agriculture dominates Welsh land use. Over 80% of the country’s total land is dedicated to farming. Wales has more farmland than Scotland and Northern Ireland (75% of the land is farm-based) and England (68%). Surprisingly, because of this significant land allocation, in 2020, Wales’ farms contributed £305 million to the national GDP, equalling a 0.38% contribution. Notably, a substantial portion, around 67%, of Welsh farm income is derived from subsidies. The Average Farm Income in Wales for the 2020-2021 period was the lowest among the four UK nations, amounting to £34,300.
How nature and nutrition can work together - Pontbren Case Study
Starting in the late 20th century, three farmers in the Welsh uplands around Pontbren noticed a trend that, on the surface, wouldn't seem worrying or against the grain: their agricultural yields were increasing, but so was the cost to maintain that trajectory. They understood that costs can and will continue going up forever. But the pressure on the land to continually match cost increases is less durable and will snap.
Concerned about the long-term sustainability of their farms and the environmental legacy they would leave for future generations, these farmers took action to reduce costs and restore resilience to the land by increasing tree cover and bolstering biodiversity.
The farmers implemented strategic changes, including installing shelterbelts, restocking and expanding woodlands, and creating ponds. Carefully selecting native broadleaf trees and shrub species, they created wind-permeable shelters to protect their land and provide livestock shelters year-round.
In addition to these plant-based interventions, the farmers sought to reduce their reliance on costly feed by transitioning their livestock to breeds better suited to the rugged upland conditions - allowing livestock to graze outdoors year round. The farmers assert this wasn't a heritage-based project - a vanity project returning the farms to museum-status tourist attractions. The farmers were intent on remaining financially viable and found solutions that allowed them to remain part of the modern farming supply chain that provided them income.
What started as three farmers soon grew into a cooperative of ten, who worked together to understand how to develop sustainable agriculture that provided the needed income and satisfied their desire to maintain the land's productivity without artificial intervention.
At the outset, only a small amount of Pontbren's land was wooded, but over a decade, the farmers planted 120,000 new trees and shrubs, restored 16.5 km of hedges, and increased natural habitat coverage to nearly 5%. The woodland improvements at Pontbren were carefully designed to achieve the farmers' agricultural objectives by creating woodland consisting of native broadleaf and would be long-lived and easy to maintain after the initial establishment period. These efforts did not result in any loss of agricultural productivity.
Throughout the process, the farmers welcomed collaboration with Welsh researchers, government agencies, and universities, eager to better understand the positive changes they witnessed and document their achievements for replication elsewhere.
The simple act of getting the right plants and animals and quantities had significant positive effects on water quality and management, soil health, and biodiversity, all of which didn't improve those farms specifically, but land where those cleaner streams ran through and where birds and insects also visited pollinating and dropping seeds.
Water quality improved because fewer chemicals were used on the landscape to protect poorly matched animals. Additionally, deeper roots held soil more firmly, meaning it wasn't carried away to silt up streams.
A common sight across many farms, when it's been particularly wet, are great big puddles that languish. Through introducing thirsty plants, Pontren was able to better manage water. Two significant elements impact effective water management. First, grass roots are shallow, meaning they can only draw water down as deep as they go. Because of their longer roots, larger flora (hedges and trees) are much better at drawing surface-level water farther down into the ground. Also, healthy soil with 3-4% organic carbon can hold water better. Better soil with higher carbon comes from having diverse plant species and all the nutrients drawn down into the soil through the mix of plants.
Pontbren's success transcends agricultural gains; the sum of the collaboration is greater biodiversity in the Pontbren area, diversified income streams, and a greater sense of community through the joined-up planning and inter-reliance of this ongoing project.
That’s one type of landscape - how does it work on my land?
Ultimately, the farmers of Pontbren’s success is a result of matching, experimentation, and patience.
The farmers sought to understand the environmental conditions of their area and matched the animal and plant species that would sustain themselves. Throughout the years that the project took - even though it was successful from the beginning - the farmers experimented to better understand what would work for their land. They also needed patience and understanding that their project was a project.
When it comes to applying these parameters to other landscapes and different parts of the UK, partnering with the right people who will listen to and understand your goals and know enough about ecology to make a plan resulting in successful land redevelopment to intensify the right (i.e., native) plants, encouraging more insects and animals.
Protect Earth does exactly this, and we are excited to be consistently invited onto farms all over the UK, helping increase wood cover, planting copses, shelterbelts, hedgerows, and unused corners and edges, sourcing sapligns from nurseries as close to the planting area as possible. Our ecologist also works with landowners to better understand their goals - filling in unused space on farms or silvopastoral/silvoarable - and creates a plan for the landowner's approval.
Returning the land to a more traditional level of tree cover has countless benefits, not just getting in line with government grants for increased subsidies, but providing shelter for animals, reducing crop damage by wind, improving the soil while reducing fertiliser inputs, and providing a convenient sustainable source of firewood for biomass heating on the farm, cutting down on expensive polluting oil and LNG. Not to mention the carbon credits that can come with larger woodland creation, providing a diversified income for farmers in turbulent times.
To sum up
Introducing wilder amounts of greenery doesn’t necessarily result in a loss of commercial output. If planned and maintained in partnership with knowledge-based groups, running costs can be reduced, and profits can increase. Additionally, overworked land can be rejuvenated, ensuring longer-term confidence in returns. That is nature’s way of saying thanks for looking after it.
If you have questions on how you can tap into ideas naturally improving soil fertility and productivity on your farm - either developing hedgerows or wildflower patches on unused land or radically redrawing your farm and introducing silvopastoral/ silvoarable - we will help you.
