Join the Soil Association at Woodoaks Farm, the Soil Association Land Trust’s flagship site, for a focused farm walk exploring how agroforestry can support catchment scale water quality improvements, with the opportunity to design and join a new reserach project. This event will bring together farmers, advisers, water companies, and river catchment partners to see first hand how trees can be integrated into productive farming systems to reduce runoff, enhance soil structure, and protect local waterways. You can also shape the direction of new farmer-led trials on the topic.

What to expect from the event

The morning will feature a guided farm walk led by Josiah Judson, Senior Farm Advisor at the Soil Association. Josiah recently completed his PhD and is the lead author of a 2025 peer reviewed study examining how alley width and slope position influence soil carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, and hydrology in mature Silvoarable systems. We will also we joined by Ben Raskin, Soil Association’s Head of Agroforestry.

In the afternoon we will host a practical workshop. We want to launch new, farmer-led trials focusing on how agroforestry can help water management on farms. The workshop will focus on your questions and any ideas you might want to explore further on your farm. We will be working with researchers from Reading University, agroforestry experts from the Soil Association and the Innovative Farmers on-farm research team to help answer your questions, discuss your ideas for new research, and co-design a new Innovative Farmers field lab. We’re also keen to recruit farmers to take part in a field lab based on the outcomes of this workshop.

This event will also serve as the official launch of the Affinity Water× Soil Association partnership, showcasing how joined up approaches can drive landscape scale improvements in soil health and water resilience.