{"id":4924,"date":"2026-05-04T08:46:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/?p=4924"},"modified":"2026-05-04T08:47:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:47:14","slug":"thirty-years-in-the-making-what-a-combined-food-and-energy-farm-in-taastrup-has-taught-us-about-agroforestry-at-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/thirty-years-in-the-making-what-a-combined-food-and-energy-farm-in-taastrup-has-taught-us-about-agroforestry-at-scale\/","title":{"rendered":"Thirty years in the making: what a combined food and energy farm in Taastrup has taught us about agroforestry at scale"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An interview with researchers at the University of Copenhagen \u00b7 Reforest Project, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Two years ago, at the very start of the ReForest project, we spoke with the team at the University of Copenhagen about their Combined Food and Energy system in Taastrup \u2014 a long-running organic agroforestry experiment integrating food crops, fodder, and biomass belts of willow, hazel, and alder. Already established for nearly three decades, the CFE system brought something rare to the ReForest network: a living lab with genuine history, and a dataset that most agroforestry researchers can only dream of.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the question was never about whether the system works \u2014 the evidence for that has been accumulating since 1995. Instead, joining ReForest has been about connecting that depth of knowledge to a wider European conversation, refining monitoring approaches, and confronting the practical realities of sustaining long-term research in a funding landscape that rarely rewards patience.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this follow-up conversation, we return to Taastrup to hear what the past two years have added to the picture: new collaborations, evolving thinking on biomass and soil fertility, and what one of Europe’s oldest agroforestry living labs still has left to teach us.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most agroforestry experiments run for a few years. The Combined Food and Energy system at the University of Copenhagen’s experimental farm in Taastrup has been running since 1995. Three decades of data, drought years, funding gaps, and shifting energy policy have shaped one of Europe’s most mature living labs. We spoke with the researchers behind it about what endurance reveals \u2014 and what it costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CFE system was established in 1995 on land that had only ever grown annual crops. After nearly thirty years, what has changed in the soil?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference is most visible in the tree areas, where lower soil disturbance and continuous vegetation cover have consistently built up organic matter levels \u2014 in contrast to the nearby conventionally managed monoculture fields, which have been under inorganic management throughout the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil organic matter is foundational: it improves the soil’s ability to hold water and nutrients, and it supports the organisms \u2014 earthworms, soil arthropods \u2014 that do a lot of ecological work beneath the surface. Over time, this has translated into better nutrient cycling, greater resilience during extreme weather events, and a production system that copes better with climate variability than conventional alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original goal was a carbon-neutral farm. How close has the system come to achieving that?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept was sound: fast-growing tree belts producing woodchips sold to a Copenhagen power plant, with the bioenergy displacing fossil fuels and the farm’s diesel use offset accordingly. Woodchips could also feed into compost or biochar production, substituting for external fertiliser inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, the picture has shifted. Funding has been difficult to sustain, and Denmark’s energy sector has moved decisively toward wind and solar, reducing the market for biomass. Today the woodchips are used primarily for mulching rather than energy generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The underlying logic hasn’t disappeared \u2014 small-scale energy production and soil fertility applications remain promising directions. But carbon neutrality as originally conceived has had to adapt to a changed policy and market environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A progressive abandonment of biomass as an energy type in Denmark has changed the picture \u2014 but the woodchips still have real value for soil fertility and on-farm self-sufficiency.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biomass belts \u2014 willow, hazel, and alder \u2014 are harvested every four years. How has that cycle held up over three decades?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A four-year coppice cycle has proven optimal for woodchip yield. But thirty years of intensive harvesting with industrial machinery has taken its toll: only around 40% of the original tree density is still actively contributing to production. That’s a significant decline, and it reflects one of the real costs of running a system this long without consistent management resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecologically, the tree belts have held up better. They remain important refuges for biodiversity \u2014 the lower disturbance levels and permanent vegetation cover attract species that have nowhere to go in the surrounding monoculture fields. The connection between that biodiversity and improved pest control and microclimatic benefits during droughts is increasingly clear from our measurements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biomass belts are spaced at 50, 100, 150, and 200 metres across the field. Does that spacing matter for the food crops?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It matters a great deal, and not always positively. The tree species used are fast-growing and planted at high density \u2014 which means the belts cast significant shade. Crops immediately adjacent to the tree rows show a measurable yield reduction due to light competition. That gap closes as you move further into the alley, and evens out at roughly 50 metres from the belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the belt spacing isn’t just a design detail \u2014 it defines the competitive dynamic between the trees and everything grown between them. In a system optimising for both food and biomass, that trade-off needs to be actively managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ve been monitoring aphid populations near and away from the tree belts. What have those numbers shown?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aphid counts taken at six metres from the tree belt were considerably lower than those recorded in the middle of the crop alleys. We believe this reflects two things: the wind-breaking effect of the belts, which slows aphid dispersal early in the season, and a higher density of natural predators \u2014 insects that use the tree belt as shelter and a feeding base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a good example of how the ecological benefits of agroforestry can manifest in practical farm outcomes. The trees aren’t just producing biomass; they’re actively shaping the pest ecology of the whole field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Aphid communities were considerably lower closest to the trees \u2014 a consequence of wind-breaking effects and increased natural enemies dwelling in the belts.”<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding has been a persistent challenge. What has that meant in practice for the research?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-term experiments are genuinely difficult to fund. They need consistent personnel and management over timescales that don’t align well with how most research grants are structured. In agroforestry, the most interesting dynamics \u2014 between trees and crops, between soil organisms and above-ground productivity \u2014 unfold over decades. You can’t compress that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we’ve lost is the ability to test new approaches as rigorously as we’d like. Soil fertility is currently maintained through a grass-clover-ryegrass ley, held undisturbed for two growing seasons in each rotation, which works \u2014 but with more resources we’d be exploring biochar applications, refined compost regimes, and more intensive biodiversity monitoring. There are questions we know are worth asking that we simply haven’t had the capacity to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has being part of the Reforest network changed anything for the project?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CFE has contributed to a comparative study alongside partners in Belgium, Germany, and England, looking at ecosystem services and their economic value relative to conventional monoculture. That kind of cross-site comparison is hard to do in isolation and adds a layer of validity to what we observe locally. The collaboration has produced two formal outputs \u2014 Milestone 14 and Deliverable 3.1 \u2014 and it’s reinforced that the patterns we see in Taastrup are part of a broader European picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, what do you see as the most promising direction for the CFE system \u2014 and for short-rotation coppice in agroforestry more broadly?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woodchip-to-mulch pathway is underexplored and genuinely promising. Using coppice output as mulch for fruit tree species creates a real on-farm loop \u2014 one that improves soil moisture retention, suppresses weeds, and reduces dependence on external inputs. Combine that with the biodiversity value of the tree belts and you have a model that contributes across multiple dimensions of sustainability at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Denmark and similar farming contexts, short-rotation coppice in agroforestry settings offers something that neither pure biomass energy nor pure food production can provide alone: a way to incrementally build soil health, ecological function, and farm resilience over the long term. The CFE system is thirty years of evidence for that claim \u2014 and in many ways, the most interesting results are still accumulating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog article is developed as a result of the co-creation work with Living Labs coordinated by <\/em><\/strong>EMEA<\/em><\/strong><\/a> with the support of Project partners and living Lab leaders<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An interview with researchers at the University of Copenhagen \u00b7 Reforest Project, 2025 Two years ago, at the very start of the ReForest project, we spoke with the team at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"wds_primary_category":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4926,"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4924\/revisions\/4926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agroreforest.eu\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}