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The Regenerative Agroforestry Podcast
#43 The story, philosophy and principles of Syntropic Farming with Marc Leiber
Syntropic Farming has recently gained international attention, and it is about time we interview an expert on the podcast! Whilst I call him an expert, Marc Leiber prefers to see himself as a student of Syntropic Farming. He has been trained by Ernst Gotsch, the founder of the movement, and continues to work intimately with him on his farm, Quinta das Abelhas, in Southern Portugal. We believe there are few people better positioned to talk about this subject than Marc. In this interview you will understand the history, the philosophy and the principles behind Syntropic Farming. Whilst many questions remain as to how it can be scaled and the economics on our climate, Marc told such a fascinating story that we had to leave if for next time. We hope you enjoy!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:01:40 Marc’s story
00:11:55 The work of Ernst Gotsch
00:41:37 The principles of Syntropic Farming
01:12:20 Marc’s research farm
• RESOURCES
• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org
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• FUNDING FOR EUROPEAN PROJECTS https://explore.ecosia.org/regenerative-agriculture
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01:35:09||Ep. 48Today we continue investigating Syntropic Farming with Daniel from the Mata do Lobo farm in Brasil. In the past 4 years, they have been working solutions to scale these complex agroforestry systems, soon reaching 50ha planted. Daniel and his partner, Maria Vittoria, have accumulated some tremendous experience as they build one of the most innovative coffee plantations out there. In this episode, you will find out what is the difference between the health and quality of agroforestry coffee and conventional coffee. You will also understand how they are striking a balance between efficiency and complexity - in order to integrate the principles of Syntropic whilst managing these systems at scale. This was a highly practical conversation, inspired by the questions we received from our listeners on social media. We hope you enjoy! TABLE OF CONTENTS03:47 Daniel’s story12:35 Objective of the agroforestry plot 16:01 How do you manage inputs? 20:02 What makes Syntropic less input intensive? 22:39 What does the agroforestry produce? 31:09 How much diversity is integrated to the coffee crop? 35:51 How is the coffee crop responding to the Syntropic system? 41:46 How are coffee yields expected to perform in comparison to conventional? 45:41 How did he plant so many trees effectively? 51:01 How many people working on the agroforestry system? 55:23 How do you manage so much biomass? 01:07:26 What harvesting process for coffee? 01:12:16 What potential of mechanisation for Syntropic systems? 01:14:57 What commercialisation strategy? 01:19:44 Is he planning a processing facility? 01:21:48 Could Syntropic systems work in a European context? 01:24:08 Where does he get knowledge from? • RESOURCEShttps://www.instagram.com/matadolobo/?hl=en• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry• FOLLOW US on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram• FUNDING FOR EUROPEAN PROJECTS https://explore.ecosia.org/regenerative-agriculture47. #47 The synergies of trees and poultry and adopting silvo-poultry at scale with David Brass
56:35||Ep. 47David Brass is the CEO of the Lakes Free range egg company. Almost 30 years ago he started planting trees in the fields to encourage his laying hens to go and range. Since then, he has been busy planting trees throughout his supply chain. With about 70 farmers and 2 million birds supplying eggs to his company today, this is an example of agroforestry working at scale. The interview brings forward both practical considerations for the layout and maintenance of trees, and explains how they have managed to onboard their suppliers. David is enthusiastic about the numerous benefits trees have bought, carefully documented with various studies. He is convincd that there is a very clear case for integrating trees in all poultry production with very limited trade-offs. TABLE OF CONTENTS02:05 Story and overview of the company 04:08 Bringing trees onto the farm 10:14 Current design12:16 Potential to add a perennial production? 16:51 Is it realistic to incorporate trees as part of the feed? 18:06 What does it mean practically for a poultry farmer to intergrate trees? 22:35 How are the tree plantations evolving? 27:12 Scaling tree plantations within their suppliers 30:58 Funding 34:34 Trees and animal welfare 37:00 Impact of tree planting on profitability. 39:49 Initial reluctance of some farmers 42:34 Is the agroforestry approach something that is valued by your customers? 44:18 the numerous benefits of planting trees46:15 Do you see payment for ecosystem services as part of your model. 50:21 Supply chain requirements are driving change 54:52 Impact of tree planting on biodiversity • RESOURCEShttps://lakesfreerange.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/lakesfreerange/https://www.farmtreestoair.ceh.ac.uk/ART• GET IN TOUCH www.regenerativeagroforestry.org• SUPPORT US www.gumroad.com/regenagroforestry• FOLLOW US on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram• FUNDING FOR EUROPEAN PROJECTS https://explore.ecosia.org/regenerative-agriculture