Hamish MacDonald, who runs Southfield Farm in Hawick, is inviting other farmers to an event which is demonstrating the benefits of tree planting.

The event is part of the Integrating Trees Network initiative, which is supported by Scottish Forestry and the Scottish Government.

Southfield farm is one of the network’s demonstrator sites where others farmers can visit and see how tree planting has boosted the business in a number of positive ways.

Speakers from Scottish Forestry and the Tweed Forum will also be attending to help give advice.

The event is taking place at Southfield Farm on Thursday October 19^th from 1-4pm.

Mr MacDonald said:

“Tree planting on the farm is a relatively new venture for us but we are really interested to see how it can work for us. 

“I’m happy to share our experiences so that other farmers who might be thinking about tree planting can hopefully learn something from our experiences and decide whether there would be benefits for their business from similar schemes.

“The benefits from trees can include shelter and shade for livestock, enhancing biodiversity, helping manage flooding, carbon sequestration and improving the overall environmental capital of the farm.”

Southfield is an upland tenanted farm of 628 acres and is home to Innovis 1000 ewe nucleus flock.

He has recently planted around 38 acres of native broadleaves woodland across the farm. During the event he plans to explain his thought process, objectives, challenges and business benefits of planting the trees. 

Scottish Forestry’s forestry & farming development officer Lyn White added:

“The Integrating Trees Network events are informal and a great way to meet up and chat through the tree planting process. We’ve held many across the country and they have proved very popular and a very successful way to share experiences about tree planting, whilst getting free advice.”

Booking onto the event is free and can be done here.