Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Sustainable farming in county to get cash help
A LONG-term scheme to make farming in Herefordshire more sustainable has been awarded government funding.
The Wyescapes Landscape Recovery project, which aims to restore and enhance water quality in the county’s rivers, boost biodiversity and sequester carbon while enabling sustainable food production, is among 34 projects sharing £25 million from the Landscape Recovery scheme.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which runs the scheme, said “at this moment in time we cannot confirm exact figures” on how much of this would go to Herefordshire.
Countryside umbrella group Herefordshire Rural Hub’s bid for the funding was backed by 36 landowners responsible for 4,500 hectares of farmland in the county.
Over the next two years, each must outline how they will manage their land, what contracts they will issue and how their work will be funded.
There will then be a 20-year delivery period, in partnership with nonprofit bodies Wye Valley National Landscape, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, Herefordshire Meadows and the Wye & Usk Foundation.
“The ambition is to expand the coverage of the project significantly, so there are opportunities for other landowners in the county to still get involved,” Herefordshire Rural Hub said.
A survey of 250 farmers earlier this year by Farm Herefordshire, part of the Rural Hub, found that among potential sustainability measures there was most enthusiasm for putting roofs on manure stores, reducing phosphate in livestock diets, installing wetlands and planting trees.
Reducing livestock numbers, and schemes to dispose of manure, were least popular.