When livestock and forestry come together they can build resilience against climate change, enhance productive landscapes into the future and improve animal welfare.

That’s why Scion researchers and partners are on a mission to demonstrate an integrated system’s environmental, economic, cultural and social benefits during the three-year Taking risk out of next generation silvopastoral systems research programme.

Agroforestry blends agriculture and forestry in a way that addresses environmental, economic and social pressures.

Silvopastoral systems are a form of agroforestry involving livestock grazing on pasture.

There has been little new research on silvopastoral systems in New Zealand for more than 30 years and there is a gap in current knowledge and lack of demonstrated systems.

Scion said this project aimed to change that.

During the research programme, which started in August 2024, the team will hold co-design workshops with research partners and landowners to identify sites where trees can either be planted into established farms or existing stands of trees can be modified.

Animal and plant monitoring will ideally be done across trials on sheep, beef and dairy farms.

Programme lead Peter Clinton said engagement with landowners occurred pre-proposal and would continue throughout, ensuring research, infrastructure and project objectives were collaboratively developed.

“Co-design is a key requirement to ensure objectives are met and research is relevant to the needs and aspirations of landowners.”

Animal welfare and climate change are at the project’s core.

Clinton, a microbial ecology and soil systems principal researcher, said trees on farms create more natural shelter for animals from the elements.

Other benefits include less erosion, potentially more biodiversity and increased carbon sequestration.

Clinton hoped the trials could continue beyond the life of the research project.

Silvopastoral systems research programme lead Peter Clinton. Photo / Craig Robertson

Simon Van Haandel, a forestry business manager at Pāmu, one of Scion’s research partners, said deciduous silvopastoral systems could be a viable land use option on vulnerable land types across New Zealand.

“Climate modelling shows extreme weather events will worsen over time, which will reduce productivity and increase the risks to stock and the land.”

Trees can help mitigate the effects of erosion and minimise the impacts of extreme weather by cooling air and regulating water flows.

“Historical silvopastoral trials under radiata pine were not economically viable however other values such as erosion control, animal health, shade and shelter, timber and carbon are becoming increasingly important for farm resilience in the face of climate change,” Van Haandel said.

“Pāmu hopes that, through the project, we can show the conditions under which silvopastoral systems can work in New Zealand to provide farmers with another option for their toolkit.”

Dane Tamepo, business manager and board member at Orete No. 2 and Other Blocks Incorporated, believed science was pivotal in addressing climate change and building resilience across the organisation’s dairy operation and other land uses.

Central to their discussions are the priorities of people, climate, animal welfare, water quality and adapting farming systems to support long-term land-use sustainability.

The incorporation also has an interwoven relationship with other whenua landowners within Te Whānau a Pararaki hapū, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Iwi.

“With this in mind, our intention is to share the research so our whānau, hapū and iwi can benefit,” Tamepo said.

“Understanding our unique challenges and bringing to the table our te ao Māori world view are key outcomes for us and why we are involved in this research.”

Senior scientist Karin Schutz of AgResearch’s Animal Behaviour and Welfare team was excited about the project as it incorporated a One Welfare perspective.

This is the concept that animal welfare depends on, and influences, human wellbeing, biodiversity and the environment, and is therefore interconnected.

“Cows and sheep are very good at seeking out microclimates that help them thermoregulate and stay comfortable so it is good for their welfare,” she said.

“It is also good for the farmer because animals that do not have to spend energy to thermoregulate produce more, so it is good for the wallet as well.

“It is a win-win for animals and farmers.”

In the short term, the project aims to develop new systems infrastructure to promote farming practice changes.

In the medium term, it aims to develop methods for quantifying the benefits of silvopastoral systems.

Long-term, the aim is for local communities to have increased confidence in the future of silvopastoral systems, for the public to have greater confidence in the intergenerational sustainability of New Zealand agriculture and for the Government to have greater confidence in the farming community’s ability to adapt to climate change and other global pressures.

The project is funded through the Ministry for Primary Industries Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change fund.

Scion’s research partners include Pāmu and Orete No. 2 and Other Blocks Incorporation and AgResearch.