Forestry, Trees & Hedgerows
Agroforestry & Silvopasture
Trees and farming on the same hectare, without losing the scheme claim.
Agroforestry has moved from fringe practice to funded action, but the design decisions — alley width, row orientation, species, protection and machinery compatibility — determine whether it enhances the farming system or slowly strangles it. This module handles design, funding, establishment and the eligibility question that trips most schemes up: whether the land remains agricultural for payment purposes.
- 12 capabilities
- 4 linked schemes
- Offline capable
- 12
- Capabilities in this module
- 5
- Interactive tools
- 4
- Linked support schemes
- 5
- Data integrations
- 5
- Measures reported
The ground reality
What is actually happening in agroforestry in the UK
Agroforestry items have moved between capital grant offers as the English scheme has been restructured, and equivalent options exist within the devolved schemes. The central practical constraint is machinery: alley widths must be a whole multiple of the widest implement, or the system creates permanent inefficiency that outlasts the grant.
Figures are as published at the time of writing. Farm policy and payment rates change frequently — verify against the primary source before relying on any number here.
In the field
Agroforestry, as it actually looks
Photography from working UK holdings alongside the interface that records it. Every frame below is a commissioned slot: the brief is stated until the photograph is taken.
Agroforestry — a walkthrough
A working pass through agroforestry: entering the record once, and watching it appear in the evidence pack, the calendar and the scheme application without being typed again.
- 0:00 What the module is for
- 0:48 Entering the record
- 2:05 Where it appears next
- 3:20 The evidence pack
Photography slots state their own brief until the shot is commissioned, so the layout never shifts when real images arrive.
Capabilities
What Agroforestry does
Every capability below is built on the same underlying record, so entering something once is enough for it to appear wherever it is needed.
Record and plan
- Alley cropping design with machinery-width-driven spacing
- Silvopasture design with stocking, shelter and browse protection
- Row orientation modelling for light interception and shelter effect
Operate and monitor
- Species selection for timber, fruit, nut, fodder or shelter objectives
- Land eligibility checking so the parcel retains agricultural status where required
- Yield impact modelling on the understorey crop or grazing
Comply and evidence
- Capital grant application assembly for agroforestry items
- Tree protection specification and cost modelling
- Establishment and maintenance schedule with labour requirement
Analyse and improve
- Carbon and biodiversity uplift estimation for the system
- Harvest planning for tree products alongside the farming operation
- Long-term system review with productivity and margin reconciliation
Interactive
Tools you actually use, not screens you read
These are working interfaces inside the module — maps, calculators, planners and dashboards that respond to your own holding data.
Alley design calculator taking implement width and returning compliant spacings
Alley design calculator taking implement width and returning compliant spacings
CalculatorLight interception model showing understorey yield effect by row orientation
Light interception model showing understorey yield effect by row orientation
ToolWhole-system margin comparison against the current land use
Whole-system margin comparison against the current land use
ToolTree protection cost calculator by system and stocking
Tree protection cost calculator by system and stocking
CalculatorScheme eligibility checker for agroforestry land parcels
Scheme eligibility checker for agroforestry land parcels
WizardEnd to end
How Agroforestry runs, start to finish
The module is modelled as a state machine, so at any point the business knows exactly which stage every record is at and what has to happen next.
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1
Define the system objective
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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2
Measure machinery and set alley geometry
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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3
Select species and protection
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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4
Confirm land eligibility and scheme fit
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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5
Apply for capital funding
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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6
Establish and record
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
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7
Maintain, protect and monitor
Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
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8
Review system margin and adjust
The cycle closes here, and what is learned is carried into next season's plan rather than lost.
Who uses it
Built around four real jobs, not one generic user
Each of these people needs something different from the same record. The module is designed so none of them has to work around the others.
Arable farmer
Trialling alley cropping on 20 ha
Needs machinery compatibility settled before a single tree is planted.
Dairy farmer
Silvopasture for shade and shelter
Needs to keep the grazing platform eligible for the scheme claim.
Agroforestry designer
Consultancy
Needs a design tool that respects real machinery and real scheme rules.
Landowner
Long-term estate planning
Needs a 40-year view of system value, not a five-year grant view.
Schemes and funding
Support schemes this module works with
Agrivencia holds these schemes as data, so eligibility, payment rates, caps and windows update the day they change rather than at the next software release.
Countryside Stewardship
Fund more complex, targeted and bespoke habitat management than the main incentive offer supports.
Defra / Natural England / Rural Payments Agency EnglandEnvironmental Land Management Capital Grants
Fund capital works supporting environmental outcomes — boundaries, water, air quality, natural flood management and infrastructure.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency WalesSustainable Farming Scheme
Replace area-based direct payments in Wales with a scheme rewarding sustainable land management outcomes.
Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales EnglandSustainable Farming Incentive 2026
Pay farmers for environmental actions taken alongside food production, as the principal replacement for area-based direct payments in England.
Defra / Rural Payments AgencyRates, caps and windows change frequently and sometimes without notice. Always confirm against the current published scheme rules before applying.
Measurement
How you will know it is working
The module reports against these measures from the day it is switched on, so the value is demonstrable rather than assumed.
- 01Hectares under agroforestry
- 02Tree survival rate
- 03Understorey yield versus control
- 04Whole-system gross margin
- 05Scheme eligibility retained
Payment schedule
What is due, and when it lands
Farm support arrives in instalments from several bodies on different calendars. Set against your own overdraft, the question is not how much but when — so the ledger is ordered by date, not by scheme.
| When | Payment | From | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March | Countryside Stewardship | Defra / Natural England / Rural Payments Agency | — | Expected |
| June | Environmental Land Management Capital Grants | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Agreed |
| May | Sustainable Farming Scheme | Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales | — | Eligible |
| June | Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
| December | Farming Equipment and Technology Fund | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
| February | Farming Transformation Fund | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
- — Agreed and scheduled
- — Claimed, awaiting payment
- — Eligible, unclaimed
What the statuses mean
- Agreed
- Under a signed agreement with a scheduled payment date.
- Expected
- Claimed and assessed; payment date per the published standard.
- Eligible
- Your holding appears to qualify but nothing is claimed yet.
Obligation calendar
What agroforestry asks of you, and when
Windows, deadlines and recurring obligations for England. Set a different nation and the calendar reconfigures; farm across a border and it shows both, reconciled.
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March 1 entry
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12 March: Confirm land eligibility and scheme fit
A recurring step in agroforestry.
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April 2 entries
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20 April: Adding Value Grant
Round-based.
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26 April: Select species and protection
A recurring step in agroforestry.
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May 1 entry
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26 May: Sustainable Farming Scheme
Scheme year runs to 31 December, with the single application form deadline in mid-May.
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June 2 entries
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5 June: Farming Transformation Fund
Round-based by theme.
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15 June: Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026
Two windows in 2026: window one from 30 June, window two from September.
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July 2 entries
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14 July: Slurry Infrastructure Grant
Round-based.
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17 July: Water Management Grant
Round-based.
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August 1 entry
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4 August: Measure machinery and set alley geometry
A recurring step in agroforestry.
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October 1 entry
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5 October: Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
Round-based, usually open for a defined application period.
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November 3 entries
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12 November: Improving Farm Productivity Grant
Round-based.
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16 November: Define the system objective
A recurring step in agroforestry.
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27 November: Environmental Land Management Capital Grants
Round-based, with rapid allocation once open.
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December 1 entry
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26 December: Countryside Stewardship
Rolling and round-based depending on the tier and option group.
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Questions answered
What people ask about Agroforestry
Does this replace the software I already use?
Not necessarily. Agrivencia integrates with authoritative sources and mainstream packages rather than insisting on replacing them. Where an incumbent does one job well, the platform connects to it; where the job spans several systems and nobody does it, the platform does it.
Will it work where I have no signal?
Yes. Field capture in Agroforestry is offline first, storing locally and synchronising when a connection returns. Only around a fifth of UK farms report reliable signal across the whole holding, so this is a design assumption rather than a feature.
What happens when the scheme rules change?
Scheme rules are held as data rather than code, so a rate change, a cap change or a window closure is a content update that takes effect the same day. The platform also alerts you to what the change does to your own position.
Who owns the data I put in?
You do. The Farm Data Charter gives you a complete export in open formats at any time, and every instance of data sharing requires an explicit, revocable consent that is visible in your account.
Does it work if I farm across a border?
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons the platform exists. A business with land in more than one nation sees one reconciled view rather than two portals, with obligations and deadlines from both administrations in a single calendar.
Can my agronomist or land agent use it too?
Yes. You grant scoped, time-limited access per holding and per module, and you can revoke it in one click. Advisers never get a shared password or a blanket view.
What is the biggest limitation of this module?
Machinery incompatibility locked in permanently. Mitigated by width-first design. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.
Documents
Take it away with you
Everything here is printable and works on a kitchen table with no signal. Where a document asks for an email address, it says so on the button rather than after you press it.
Designing Agroforestry Around the Machinery You Already Own
The practical handbook for agroforestry: what the rules require, what the evidence has to show, and the mistakes that cost people money.
agroforestry — evidence checklist
Every document an audit or a claim asks for, in the order it is asked for, with the validity period of each.
agroforestry — record template
The record structure the module uses, as a spreadsheet, so a business not yet on the platform can start keeping it correctly today.
Data model reference
Entities, fields and integration points for agroforestry, for advisers and software partners.
See Agroforestry running on your own holding
Thirty minutes, using your parcels, your schemes and your enterprises rather than a sample farm. No obligation and no sales script — if it does not fit your business we will say so.
- Free tier available
- No card required
- Your data stays yours