Ty’n yr Onnen

Agroforestry Blueprint for Ty’n yr Onnen: Planning, designing and integrating tree systems for climate resilience and economic performance

Ty’n yr Onnen is a 250-acre holding farmed by Leonard Swain, his partner Helen Griffith and their son Gareth. The farm can be located South East of and on the outskirts of Waunfawr. Livestock on the holding include a flock of 250 breeding ewes of Penderyn Welsh and Cheviot. The business has diversified over recent years into numerous enterprises including energy production, tourism and mushroom production. Other ventures are also being investigated such as Hop production for the local brewing industry.

The project at Ty’n yr Onnen will consist of an in-depth investigation into the planning and design of agroforestry systems as a key strategy for climate-smart agriculture. It will explore various agroforestry approaches, their benefits, and the crucial elements for successful implementation at Ty’n yr Onnen. This will incorporate the intentional integration of trees and shrubs on the farm with livestock to demonstrate a multitude of benefits for both the environment and farm productivity. The project will demonstrate how different approaches can be tailored to specific farm needs and environmental conditions. The two broad categories considered will be in-field and around-field agroforestry whilst investigating the financial support available for establishing these systems, methods for protecting trees within grazing systems, and the potential for on-farm carbon sequestration.

Adapting planting thresholds that could encourage wider adoption of agroforestry by making it more accessible to farmers with different farm sizes and objectives will be a focus of the project. Current schemes often have minimum tree density requirements and lowering these thresholds, particularly for initial adoption phases, could allow farmers to integrate trees more gradually and at a scale that suits their operations. This flexibility could forge a “tree turnaround” approach could involve:

• Lower Minimum Tree Densities: Allowing participation with fewer trees per hectare initially, enabling farmers to gain experience and observe the benefits before committing to larger-scale planting.
• Flexible Planting Patterns: Moving away from rigid grid or row requirements to accommodate existing farm layouts and features.
• Phased Implementation: Supporting projects that involve planting trees over several years, allowing farmers to manage the workload and investment incrementally.

This project will ascertain the specific economic outcomes dependent on factors such as system design, species selection, market conditions, and management practices. The economic analysis will consider and model both the costs of establishment, maintenance and labour against the benefits of production and environmental yields.

The project will also contribute to the Sustainable Land Management outcomes including:

• Clean air
• Clean water
• High animal health & welfare
• Maximise carbon storage
• Mitigate flood & drought risk
• Protected natural landscapes
• Reduced GHG emissions
• Resilient ecosystems