A federally backed research project will map how Australia’s beef producers can commercially integrate trees into grazing landscapes, with researchers warning that fragmented supply chains — not a lack of evidence — have been the primary obstacle to adoption for more than a century, according to the Australian Forest and Wood Innovations (AFWI) Centre for Sustainable Futures, which is funding the study through its $200 million national research mandate.
Led by Central Queensland University and project lead Professor Delwar Akbar, the project — Mapping Silvopastoral Supply Chains in Australia: Identifying Opportunities, Barriers and Future Research — will examine two case studies, one focused on beef and native forests and the other on beef and softwood, to identify models that are both operationally feasible and commercially viable.
“While the benefits are well understood, including improved pasture productivity, carbon sequestration, enhanced biodiversity, and diversified income streams, many producers remain disconnected from supply chains, markets, and the broader value proposition of integrating trees into grazing systems,” Professor Akbar said. “This study aims to develop a holistic silvopastoral supply chain mapping tool to analyse the current landscape, identify enabling environments, and address key challenges and threats.”
The findings build on a growing body of national concern about Australia’s timber supply shortfall, with Professor Keith Crews warning earlier this year that the best land for trees is also the best land for agriculture — and that agroforestry offers the only viable pathway that does not force landowners to choose between the two.
The project will deliver a practical mapping framework examining product and market dynamics, infrastructure requirements, and business collaboration models, combining a review of past research with stakeholder interviews and co-designed industry workshops grounded in the operational realities of regional producers.
Australia’s forestry sector faces mounting pressure to expand domestic wood supply without compromising environmental outcomes, whilst the agricultural sector is seeking durable pathways to income diversification and climate adaptation — a tension AFWI Executive Director Dr Joseph Lawrence has identified as central to the institute’s forward research strategy.
Professor Mark Brown, Director of the AFWI Centre for Sustainable Futures and the Forest Research Institute at the University of the Sunshine Coast, said silvopastoral systems offered genuine scale potential for Australian agriculture but structural supply chain failures had prevented producers from acting on it. “By mapping these systems and identifying viable models, this project will help unlock new value for producers while strengthening connections between the forestry and agriculture sectors,” Professor Brown said.
Seven organisations are collaborating on the project: Central Queensland University, the University of the Sunshine Coast, Timber Queensland, Meat and Livestock Australia, SEQ Forestry Hub Inc., Southeast NSW Forestry Hub, and the Central Queensland Regional Beef Research Committee.
Backed by a $100 million Commonwealth Government investment and valued at up to $200 million in total, AFWI operates across three university-hosted research centres — at the University of the Sunshine Coast, the University of Tasmania, and the University of Melbourne — with the silvopastoral project funded directly through the Centre for Sustainable Futures.
