Agroforestry för svenska förhållanden 2024 - Flipbook - Page 39
learned so far has been that the later varieties are
difficult to harvest when the field becomes too muddy
in November.
The crops in rotation
The hope is that the trees will provide some mycorrhiza that will interact with the field. As the trees were
planted recently, it is too early to determine the effect
of the trees, both positive and negative. For example,
the extent to which the roots of the trees will interfere
with the rotational crops between the rows, is still
unclear. In the long term, the roots may need to be
maintained with a deep chisel-plough or similar that
goes down and cuts them off. Depending on how the
crop develops, this may become part of the annual
management.
“The trees take up nutrients
from deeper soil layers and via
the leaves they produce, which
then fall to the ground, they
will increase soil fertility,
possibly also for the rotational
crops.”
- Anders Lunneryd, Lundens Farm, citation from
the film “Agroforestry on Arable Fields”.
ens farm.
Business model
Investments
The largest cost in establishing the orchard was fencing around the field. An investment they are still
satisfied with, as there are a lot of deer that have to
be excluded. Hares have gotten in but have never
caused any damage. However, it has not been possible to exclude voles that can cause significant harm
to trees. Voles benefit from when the ground is not
tilled and Anders recommends not to grow ley during
the establishment phase. Also in grasslands voles
can be an issue for the trees, as well as if the ground
in the tree row is covered by plant material (straw
or silage) or fabric mulch. Other post-establishment
costs have been associated with tilling, harrowing,
hand weeding, fertilising, pruning, pest control, and
apple picking, plus some diesel. A small tractor, a
small shallow cultivator, a fan sprayer and a machine
that peels, splits and cuts the apples before they are
dehydrated or processed into applesauce, have also
been purchased.
Manageable workload to increase resilience
So far, they manage the workload with existing labour,
and have been able to borrow some machinery. The
work with the apples is mostly before and after the
peaks in the other work on the farm. The pruning is
done in February to March, and the apples are harvested after the cereal harvest as they have deliberately
chosen late varieties.
In addition to the motivation to increase resilience on
their own farm, there is also the larger societal perspective. The development of the farm is driven by
curiosity and a desire to test future food production
systems in order to meet the challenges of climate
change and biodiversity loss.
With apple trees taking up land previously used for
crop cultivation and providing new processing
opportunities, the business model is different today
than it was before. So far, the best returns have come
from selling the flavorful apples as they are, through
a “Reko-ring”, their own farm shop and restaurants.
Some of the harvest has also been processed on the
farm, dried for use in their home-made granola or
into applesauce, both for sale. Future plans include
cider production from part of the apples.
Lundens farm.
Photo: Riccardo Cantoni.