1986
The Farm Woodland Forum traces its roots back to the Agroforestry Research UK Discussion Forum, which had its first national meeting in Birmingham. This meeting reached agreement on the general structure of the Silvopastoral National Network Experiment which was originally conceived by the Agroforestry Research Co-ordinating Group (Edinburgh) in 1985.
The Silvopastoral National Network Experiment comprised the Hill Farming Research Organisation (subsequently part of the Macaulay Land Research Institute, MLURI, now the James Hutton Institute), the Welsh Plant Breeding Station and the Grassland Research Institute (both now part of the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, IBER), the University College of North Wales (now Bangor University) and the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (now the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, DAERA).
1987
The annual meeting was held at the University of Edinburgh
1988
The annual meeting was held at Long Ashton Research Station. The Forum's area of interest was stated as being silvopastoral systems, silvoarable systems, shelter belts, timber belts and grazing in established forests.
1989
The annual meeting was held at the Open University, Milton Keynes.
1990
The annual meeting was held at MLURI, and SAC in Aberdeen.
1991
The annual meeting was held at the University College of North Wales, Bangor. The Forum was re-named the UK Agroforestry Research Forum.
1992
The annual meeting was held at Silsoe and Shuttleworth Colleges in Bedfordshire. The National Silvoarable Network was established with sites at Cranfield University in Silsoe, Bedfordshire, the University of Leeds and the Royal Agricultural College (now the Royal Agricultural University) at Cirencester.
1993
The annual meeting was held by the Department for Agriculture in Northern Ireland in Belfast.
1994
The annual meeting was held at the University of Leeds.
1995
The annual meeting was held at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Devon.
1996
The annual meeting was held at SAC, Craibstone Estate, Aberdeen. It was jointly organised by SAC and MLURI. The Forum was re-named the UK Agroforestry Forum, bringing it more in line with the need to include technology transfer.
1997
The annual meeting was held at Cranfield University, Bedfordshire. The UK Agroforestry Forum website was launched, constructed and managed by Alan Sibbald.
1998
The annual meeting entitled 'Trees in Fields and Farming Landscapes' was held at the University of Wales at Bangor. The meeting focussed on the practical lessons from a decade of agroforestry research on the impact of trees on farm productivity, diversification and environment. The meeting was attended by the Welsh Office Minister with responsibility for agriculture and senior members of staff of the Forestry Commission and the Welsh Agriculture Department which resulted in useful suggestions for the future and for further communication to promote agroforestry. The papers presented at the meeting were published in a special edition of Scottish Forestry volume 31 No. 1.
1999
The annual meeting entitled 'Farming with Trees' was held at Greenmount College in Northern Ireland. The forum adopted a formal constitution and an expert database was set up to record areas of members' experience that could be drawn upon to advise on agroforestry practice.
A meeting entitled 'Farm Woodlands for the Future' was hosted by Cranfield University at their Silsoe site. A presentation on behalf of the Forum and its new role emphasising technology transfer was made to the Forestry Research Co-ordination Committee (FRCC) at its autumn meeting. This led to the recognition by the FRCC that the Forum is the official body representing agroforestry.
2000
The annual meeting was held at Horticulture Research International at East Malling, Kent.
The Forestry Commission published its Bulletin 122 'Agroforestry in the UK', which was authored by members of the Forum.
2001
The annual meeting entitled 'Trees, Farms and Rural Development' was held at the University of Leeds.
The EU-sponsored Silvoarable Agroforestry for Europe (SAFE) project started. The sub-head 'Farming with Trees' was added to the Forum's title to reflect its extended range of interest.
2002
The annual meeting entitled 'Farming with trees: new options for short-term profit' was held at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.
The Silvopastoral Agroforestry Toolbox was launched.
2003
The annual meeting entitled 'New Approaches to Trees and Woodlands on Farms' was held at the SAC Hill and Mountain Research Centre, Crianlarich, Perthshire. The Forum was re-named the Farm Woodland Forum to reflect its widening interests.
2004
The annual meeting entitled 'Trees and upland farming: past, present and future' was held at the National School of Forestry, Newton Rigg, Cumbria.
The Forum applied to the Charities Commission for charitable status.
2005
Charitable status was conferred on the Forum on 11th January 2005. The annual meeting entitled 'Ecosystem services of trees' was organised by the School of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor and was held at the Gregynog Conference Centre, University of Wales, Newtown, Powys from 29 June to 1 July.
2006
The forum celebrated the 20th anniversary of its founding with a conference entitled 'The benefits of farm woodlands and agroforestry in UK lowlands' which was organised by Biodiversity International and the Northmoor Trust. The conference was held at the Northmoor Trust, Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire from 27th - 28th June. During the year the Forum hosted an e-conference entitled 'Policy support for agroforestry in the European Union'.
2007
The annual meeting entitled 'Trees for farm and community - post decoupling' was organised by Dr Jim McAdam on behalf of Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and Queens University, Belfast and was held at the Rural College and Derrynoid Centre, Draperstown, Northern Ireland from 26th to 28th June.
2008
The annual meeting entitled '5000 years of Integrated Land Management' was organised by Mr Mike Strachan on behalf of the Forestry Commission and was held at Castle Menzies, Aberfeldy, Perthshire from 24th to 25th June.
2009
The annual meeting entitled 'New futures for farm woodlands' was held at the National Forest from 22nd to 23rd June.
2010
The annual meeting entitled 'Farm woodland value', organised by Dr Ian Short, was held at Teagasc Kinsealy Research Centre, Dublin, from 21st to 23rd June.
2011
The annual meeting entitled 'Organic agroforesty: eco-functional intensification' was organised by Dr Jo Smith of the Organic Research Centre, Elm Farm and was held at Holmewood Hall, Peterborough and Organic Research Centre, Wakelyns, Suffolk (by kind invitation of Professor Martin Wolfe) from 30th June to 1st July.
At the inaugural meeting of the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF) held in Paris in December it was agreed that the Farm Woodland Forum would be a member organisation.
2012
The annual meeting entitled 'Trees, farms and ecosystem services' was held at Bangor University on 24th-25th May. It was organised by Dr James Walmsley of the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography of Bangor University.
2013
The annual meeting entitled 'Woodland grazing' was held at the Falkland Centre for Stewardship, Falkland, Fife, Scotland on 13th-14th June. It was organised by Mr Mike Strachan of the Forestry Commission. The meeting was held jointly with the Forest Ecology Group of the British Ecological Society.
2014
The annual meeting entitled 'Agroforestry and biodiversity' was held at Schumacher College, Dartington, Devon. It was organised by Bethan Stagg of Schumacher College.
The EU-sponsored AGFORWARD project started.
2015
The annual meeting entitled 'Woodfuel from agroforestry' was held at the Organic Research Centre, Elm Farm, near Newbury, and was organised by Dr Jo Smith of the Organic Research Centre.
2016
The annual meeting entitled 'Farm woodlands - education, research and policy' was held at Ballyhaise Agricultural College, Cavan, Ireland, and was organised by Kevin O'Connell and Jim McAdam.
2017
The annual meeting entitled 'Practical agroforestry in the British Isles' was held at Cranfield University, and was organised by Paul Burgess. The EU AFINET (Agro-Forestry Innovation NETwork) project for disseminating knowledge on agroforestry, and including the Organic Research Centre and Abacus Agriculture in the UK along with partners in 8 other European countries, started.
2018
The annual meeting entitled 'Trees and livestock' was held at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Allerton Project, Loddington, Leicestershire from 10th to 11th July. The Forum made a submission to the UK government's consultation on 'The Future for Food, Farming and the Environment'.
2019
The annual meeting entitled 'Integrating farming and forestry', organised by Mike Strachan, was held at the Scottish Natural Heritage Battleby Conference Centre in Perthshire from 5th - 6th June.
2020
Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the annual meeting (scheduled to be on the topic of agroforestry and climate change) was postponed for a year. The AGM was held online. To compensate for the lack of an annual meeting, a series of evening online discussion events was initiated. The first of these, held on 8th December, was entitled 'Informal Agroforestry Chat - Sycamore or Less'. A submission was made to the UK Government consultation on an 'England Tree Strategy'.
2021
The annual meeting was held online, due to ongoing covid restrictions, on 8th June. The topic was 'Agroforestry in Brexit landscapes'. The AGM was held the following day, also online. A discussion evening entitled 'Agroforestry Chat - a Fresh Look at Farm Hedgerows and Trees', around the topic of the nutritional properties of trees and shrubs for livestock, was held online in February.
2022
The annual conference was held at the University of Bangor, between 16th - 17th June. The topic was ' Are we finally rolling the agroforestry log over the crest of the hill.......'. An online discussion was held in the spring on 'Agroforestry in Ireland and the latest policy developments across the UK and Ireland'.
2023
The annual conference was held at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), Greenmount campus, in Antrim from 15th -16th June. The topic was 'Trees on stock farms for climate resilience'. During the spring and summer a series of monthly webinars on different aspects of how to carry out agroforestry, from planning and finance through to marketing the end product, was held. At the AGM in June Jim McAdam finished his term of office on the Executive Committee. Jim is a former Chairman of the Forum, and is one of the few current members who attended the first meeing of the Agroforestry Research UK Discussion Forum in Birmingham in 1986.