Water

This week from Farmers Guardian editor Olivia Midgley (March 22)

Water company celebrates 10 years of STEPS, its initiative aiming to reduce agricultural river pollution

The report recommended the Government to fund the widespread, standardised testing of soil through its Environmental Land Management schemes and to work with industry on an agreed set of metrics of soil health by next year

Installing reed beds to capture farmyard run-off has steadily increased as farmers work to protect their waterways from pollution

Survey finds 40 per cent of abstractors impacted by drought

Water business Anglian Water is working with farming communities across the region to support healthy soils for the benefit of future cropping, the environment and protection of the region’s waterways

First Minister Mark Drakeford said Welsh agriculture can, and must, do better by working together to tackle water pollution. He was questioned by farmers at the Royal Welsh Show on how water companies were being held responsible for their actions

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

Farmers are being offered £44 million to help tackle pollution, as part of the Government’s new £1.6 billion Plan for Water.

Ensuring heifers have a long and productive life is crucial to maintaining a profitable dairy enterprise, and achieving optimal growth rates pre-weaning can help realise this.