Planting shelterbelts

Why plant shelterbelts?

Shelterbelts can strengthen and diversify farm businesses whilst supporting other farming operations.

Strips of woodland can be incorporated in to field margins and utilise less productive land because trees can thrive in the places where crops and livestock otherwise wouldn’t.

Infographic of farmland showing 9 benefits of shelterbelts.

Shelterbelts can provide a range of benefits on your farm.

The benefits of shelterbelts

Protect livestock and crops from wind
Protect livestock from extreme temperatures
Provide fodder for livestock
Improve soil health and reduce soil erosion
Provide a physical barrier, increasing biosecurity

Utilise unproductive land
Store carbon
Improve biodiversity
Generate income through carbon units and timber

Improve animal welfare

Shelterbelts benefit livestock that are increasingly exposed to the threats of extreme weather events. They can provide shelter from wind and cold, and shade from heat.

Increasing shelter and shade for livestock can reduce stress on the animals, which subsequently:

lowers feed costs
reduces lamb mortality
increases milk production and live-weight
improves and stimulates earlier grass growth

All these benefits contribute to a more efficient farming business.

Improve soil health

Wind and rain can erode exposed soils, resulting in the loss of soil fertility.

Shelterbelts act as a wind break and catch runoff, protecting soils and crops.

Trees also add organic matter and improve soil biodiversity. Mycorrhizal fungi and mycelium act to bind soil particles, strengthening soil structure, which in turn improves water retention and minimises soil nutrient loss.

“Planting shelterbelts has helped create new opportunities for grazing on land that previously had limited productivity, with no reduction in livestock capacity.”

- Iain Graham, Killochries Fold

Tackle climate change and biodiversity loss

Farms can help to offset emissions through trees. By capturing and storing carbon, trees play a key role in the fight against climate change.

Shelterbelts also provide habitat for wildlife and increase pollinators. They can be used to connect fragmented woodlands, creating wildlife corridors that support the movement of many species.

Generate future income

New woodland may provide a source of income soon after planting, through the sale of carbon units under the Woodland Carbon Code.

Find out more about the Woodland Carbon Code

At maturity, trees are also a valuable crop and, depending on the type of woodland created, can be a strong financial investment resulting in high returns.

Shelterbelts are both an investment in the present and the future, diversifying and strengthening farm businesses.

They can be sensitively integrated into farms on less productive land and field margins, allowing for the many benefits of trees to livestock and crops without loss of livestock capacity or crop yields.

They also provide future income through the sale of carbon units and timber.

Case study - Lukestone Farm, Killochries Fold

Location

Inverclyde Farm size – 92.23 ha

Farm type

Livestock farm (cattle)

Objective

Providing year round shelter for livestock on the most exposed areas of the farm, enabling highland cattle to be outwintered.

Result

Two shelterbelts to provide shelter to livestock and form a paddock for grazing, improving the grass.

Land committed for tree planting

4.55 ha

FGS Option

Small or Farm Woodland

Woodland Creation – Small or Farm Woodland (Rural Payments and Services website)

After carrying out riparian planting along the Mill Burn and its tributaries, the benefits of trees to Killochries Fold’s farm business and the local wildlife became clear.

Identifying opportunities to further improve the land for the pedigree Highland cows grazing year round, the farm found that it could create paddocks using the shelterbelts.

They noticed that trees improved the condition of the Highland cattle grazing the land, as well as the land itself, without reducing livestock capacity.

With funding from Scottish Forestry’s Small or Farm Woodland option, the farm has been able to plant new shelterbelts on the most exposed and least productive areas of the farm, which can be better protected and open up new areas for outwintering.