Most English farmers willing to plant trees to combat climate change

A survey of 224 arable farmers across the south-east and east of England finds 60 per cent would consider small agroforestry plantations that could absorb atmospheric CO2

By Adam Vaughan

England’s landscape of wide-open fields may look different in years to come. Most farmers managing some of the country’s most lucrative agricultural land say they would be willing to plant rows of trees alongside their crops, in a shift that could help the UK meet its net-zero goal.

The UK’s Climate Change Committee, which advises the government, says this way of increasing tree cover while maintaining arable land for food production, known as agroforesty, could remove 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide …