A 350-metre-long innovative hedgerow has been planted near the Agro-Innovation Centre De Marke in Hengelo (Gelderland). The hedgerow is to serve as an example for future hedgerows and wooded banks on dairy farms that are transitioning towards a more nature-inclusive business model. Farmers can visit De Marke to view examples of hedgerows.
What makes this hedgerow so special? The name Hedgerow 2.0 reveals just that: it is a form of agroforestry that may serve as an example for future hedgerows and wooded banks on dairy farms that aim to transition to a more nature-inclusive business model, like De Marke. The focus is on using tree and shrub species on the dairy farm and what types are able to handle the rapid climate change, which results in warmer and wetter conditions. Historical functions, such as corralling cattle and providing wood for usage, are no longer relevant. At the same time, hedgerows and wooded banks still use production space and need maintenance. Adding value to hedgerows may well be this project's key aspect.
Functions of trees and shrubs
Trees and shrubs have many different functions on a dairy farm. Consider, for example, feed. Saplings are rich in minerals, spores and healthy nutrients. Feed hedges serve as a natural "drug store" that the cattle can eat as much of as they need. The willow is an excellent example. This tree contains salicin, which is one of the substances used in aspirin. Trees and shrubs function as a mineral pump. Selecting specific species of which the foliage decomposes quickly can also contribute to improved soil quality. Moreover, wooded banks have added value by storing CO2, capturing particulates, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide, and dampening temperature swings. Thus, they contribute to a better climate. Wooded banks also provide the cattle with shade and contribute to increasing biodiversity in agricultural regions. Biodiversity can, in turn, provide natural plague control.
See and experience
Planting this hedgerow on De Marke provides dairy farmers with examples of the different options they have. Hedgerow 2.0 is subdivided into five different variants, each with its own functions, ranging from Human Nutrition, Feed Row and Soil Improvement and Climate Mitigation to Maximum Biodiversity. More research on how dairy cows use the hedgerow, the nutritional value of foliage and twigs and grass in the adjacent fields, and changes in soil quality will be studied in the coming years. A symposium, where the design of Hedgerow 2.0 will be presented, is scheduled to take place at De Marke in May.
The hedgerow has been planted by members of the Agrarische Natuurvereniging 't Onderholt. They were supervised by Rob Geerts, a Wageningen Plant Research scientist, who designed the hedgerow with colleague Marc Ravesloot and researchers Evert Prins and Jacco de Stigter of the Louis Bolk Institute. The planting materials were provided by De Stichting Heg & Landschap as part of their 20-year anniversary celebration. The project is funded through the provincial Actieplan Natuurinclusieve Landbouw Gelderland.
