The Farming and Forestry Conference at Loughborough University in September 1986 was held as a result of the dual realisation that something needed to be done, and soon, to cut back and bring under control the over-production of key agricultural products, and secondly that farm woodlands provided one of the few realistic alternatives. The conference brought together the disciplines of farming and forestry to discuss the opportunities which farm forestry might offer towards solving the problems increasingly besetting agriculture; and for the foresters the contribution the forestry industry might make. Attention was focussed particularly on the potential contribution of farm forestry to agricultural enterprises, but also upon the alternative of transferring farm land to the forestry sector. In addition the mechanisms which would be required to encourage farmers to become Involved in farm forestry were discussed. The papers commissioned were intended to reflect the wide range of research data and expertise available, with a view to encouraging greater co-ordination amongst those concerned. They are presented here, together with a record of the discussion, as an anthology of background information which can be used to inform further debate, and to place subsequent policy developments in perspective.