Abstract Investigating agroforestry systems that incorporate poultry is warranted in Northern Europe as they may offer benefits including: improved welfare and use of range; reduced feed costs; price premia on products; reduced payback periods for forests; and, greater returns on invest- ment. Free-range egg production accounts for 27% of the United Kingdom egg market and demand for outdoor broilers is increasing. No research has been conducted recently on the economic viability of agroforestry systems with poultry. An economic model was constructed to: assess economic viabil- ity of a broiler agroforestry system; and, investigate the sensitivity of economic performance to key factors and interactions, and identify those which warrant attention in research and management. The system modelled is a commercial trial estab- lished in Southern England in 2002 where decidu- ous trees were planted and broilers reared in six- or nine-week periods. The model uses Monte Carlo simulation and financial performance analyses run for a 120-year period. An Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 15.5% is predicted for the six-week system which remains viable under a ‘worst case’ scenario (IRR of 12.6%). Factors which affect financial performance most (decreasing in magni- tude) are prices achieved for broilers, costs of brooding houses, chicks, arks, feed and timber prices. The main anticipated effects of biological interactions on financial performance (increased ranging on feed conversion and excess nutrient supply on tree health) were not supported by analysis. Further research is particularly warranted on the welfare benefits offered by the tree component and its relation to price premia. Keywords Broiler Æ Chicken Æ Financial analysis Æ Free-range Æ Silvopastoral Æ Deciduous trees Æ United Kingdom Introduction There already exists a large body of literature concerning research into silvopastoral systems using ruminants as the pastoral component (Brownlow et al. 2005, 2000). In temperate zones in the European Union there has been interest in using such systems to provide alternatives to C. Yates Æ P. Dorward (&) Department of Agriculture, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 237, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK e-mail: p.t.dorward@reading.ac.uk G. Hemery Northmoor Trust, Little Wittenham, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4RA, UK P. Cook Food Animal Initiative, The Field Station, Oxford University, Wytham, Oxford, OX2 8QJ, UK Agroforest Syst (2007) 69:13–28 DOI 10.1007/s10457-006-9015-8 123 ORIGINAL RESEARCH The economic viability and potential of a novel poultry agroforestry system Christopher Yates Æ Peter Dorward Æ Gabriel Hemery Æ Paul Cook Received: 2 December 2005 / Accepted: 20 July 2006 / Published online: 14 November 2006 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006