Irrigation & Drainage

Dan Hawes grew up on an arable farm in Suffolk and now produces strawberry and raspberry plants for the UK fruit market with Blaise Plants, sister company to Hugh Lowe Farms, Kent. The business grows outside, under tunnels and in glasshouses and produces more than four million plants a year. The arable side includes environmental schemes, with a mix of wheat, oilseed rape, beans and barley crops

Forward-thinking farmers in east Suffolk have joined with a range of stakeholders in a water management project that will protect both access to irrigation water and the environment

Extreme weather and increased water demand continue to put pressure on water availability and the need for growers to demonstrate justification for crop irrigation. 

Long established land drainage contractor Farm Services has seen renewed interest in the benefits of its services, as soil health continues to gain greater significance on farmers’ agendas. Jane Carley reports.