Analyse and maximise the rewards in fight for our rivers

But at home, Rhys Evans plays a key part in the running of the family’s dairy farm.

He was also one of the 10 finalists in the recent Fferm Ffactor Welsh language television skills competition aiming to find the top Wales-wide farmer. Sadly, his opponents’ greater farming experience counted against him.

But now, 27-year-old Rhys has embarked on a diversification venture which can also bring worthwhile financial rewards for farmers wishing to use his services.

The business opening has developed from a spur-of-the-moment decision to participation in a pioneering Wales-wide initiative aimed at cutting pollution risks. The project also provides potentially substantial cost savings – and this dual combination of benefits caught the attention of Rhys.

Falling milk prices and rising input bills means available help to lift returns becomes even more appealing - irrespective of its somewhat unexpected delivery sources.

Indeed, for many farmers, a call from officialdom is the last thing they want – but not any more, well, as far as Environment Agency Wales is concerned.

Thanks to a groundbreaking advisory service, instead of farmers facing possible prosecution for a pollution offence, and fearing a visit from one of the agency’s river catchment area co-ordinators, there are some unexpected savings.

Actual on-farm benefits of between £148 and £223 per hectare (£10-£15/acre) are claimed to be achievable and, according to the agency, an average 40ha (100-acre) dairy farm should be able to cut costs by more than £6,000 a year.

So where is the catch? There isn’t one.

General guidance

With funding from the Welsh Assembly the agency is now able to offer a soil analysis check and provide general guidance on dirty water and slurry storage free of charge.

The savings revolve around better slurry management and reduced fertiliser applications, and this is where Rhys has stepped in - though it has meant investing heavily in state-of-the-art soil injection equipment.

“It has meant a considerable investment in equipment, but opened the doorway for an additional income-earning enterprise alongside our normal family farming activities,” says Rhys, grandson of the late, and highly-respected, Tom Evans.

“Farmers really can increase profit margins and produce better crops by understanding exactly what nutrients their soil needs.

Rhys farms with his parents, Teifi and Christine, at Troed-yr-Aur, Brongest, near Newcastle Emlyn - one of the first farms to benefit from the drive to reduce the levels of watercourse pollution.

Though well-known exhibitors of pedigree Welsh pigs – the family’s Goldfoot herd is the breed’s oldest and has played a key role in ensuring recovery from near extinction, the 72-ha (180-acre) holding also carries a 250-cow black and white milking herd – now being put to a Jersey bull – plus a further 150 followers.

Having switched to a mainly extensive 10-month grazing system, the policy was to apply fertiliser after each grazing paddock cycle. But the agency’s soil sampling exercise found a considerable amount of unnecessary money was being spent on fertilisers and not enough importance being attached to slurry management.

Following advice from the agency, the farm’s fertiliser regime has been restructured and lime applied (where it was found to be needed).

Cost of investing

As a result, sufficient savings are expected to more than justify the cost of investing in the slurry tanker and a rear-mounted injection unit.

Now, when the cows move on to their next grazing area, the 2,500-gallon, eight-slot and four-metre wide kit moves in – using the farm’s stored slurry to maximum effect.

Rather than plastering it across the fields during the winter months when there is the danger of leaching slurry, it is now being targeted when the grazing areas can get maximum benefit.

By placing it below ground, the nutrients can get straight to the roots.

There is no surface scorching, and working across the slope rather than up and down, cuts the run-off risk.

Investing in the injection unit has also provided the incentive for Rhys to set up an injection service for other local farmers taking up the agency’s analysis checks.

In all, six major river catchment areas are involved in the project – covering the Clwyd, Cain, Wye, Usk, Cleddau and Teifi – and are being covered by the agency’s soil-analysis checking operation.

“It is a fact that of all of the rivers in Wales, only 30 per cent meet EU ecology standards, but instead of yielding the big stick, we would much rather work with farmers and tackle problem areas together,” says Phil Morgan, the agency’s co-ordinator for the River Teifi catchment area.

“We want to be regarded as farming’s friend rather than an enemy and, by adopting a more positive fertiliser and slurry application approach, such dangers can be avoided – with some considerable savings into the bargain.”

That is certainly proving to be the case as far as Rhys and his parents are concerned.

Help to cut costs

“Targeting specific fields, liming and using slurry as a free fertiliser can all help cut costs,” he says.

“Our on-farm work has found in many instances there is no need to be applying yet more phosphate, potash or nitrogen to fields which may already have high levels.

“Given the industry’s current tight financial situation, making the most of income and maximising profits has never been so important.

“We have already seen the benefits of adopting a more managed approach to slurry disposal and the cost savings it can bring.

“They are there to be had on most farms. By injecting the slurry, there is no wastage of valuable nutrients – and no run-off risks.

“A reduction in nutrients will mean less reaching the rivers, helping to improve water quality in our local rivers and keeping the agency’s enforcement officers happy.”

Have your say

Please do not complete the following form field for security reasons.

Name

E-mail

Comment

Post as

Anonymously

Display name