Farmers can find out how to access up to £20,000 in grant funding at South East Water’s latest sustainable farming event, on 31 January at Folly Farm near Basingstoke.
Hosted by 2022 Arable Soil Farmer of the Year, David Miller, the event will discuss the practice of growing cover crops on fields over winter to hold soil together and prevent agricultural chemicals such as nitrate from infiltrating chalk aquifers below the ground when it rains.
These aquifers are the source of drinking water in the local area, before it is treated to the highest standard and pumped to homes and businesses.
Improving the quality of river or groundwater at the source is a more sustainable approach long-term, reducing the amount of chemicals and energy used in the water treatment process.
Mark Slater, Catchment Advisor for Hampshire and Berkshire at South East Water explains the vast amount of support the water company provides for farmers within priority catchment areas.
“Farmers in key areas where we abstract water from the environment for public supply can claim up to £20,000 in grant funding to move towards more sustainable farming practices.
“We can fund a variety of equipment and innovative farming practices, from GPS-enabled tractors for precision seed sowing, calibrating pesticide and fertiliser application machinery, rainwater harvesting systems and multiple sustainable land management techniques.
“We estimate that through our cover crop incentive scheme, locally we have captured almost 50 tonnes of nitrate within the cover crops over the last three winters, which could have potentially reached the water within the underlying aquifer.
“Farmers and land managers can find out more about our support services at southeastwater.co.uk/farming.”
At the workshop, attendees will hear and see first-hand farmer David Miller's innovative approach to sustainable agriculture and how his involvement in water company-funded trials has improved our understanding of cover cropping and its value to water quality.
Other organisations present include Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South East and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany as well as representatives from Natural England’s Catchment Sensitive Farming programme.
For further information, or to book online, please visit Eventbrite(opens in a new tab).
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