Events took place before and after Back British Farming Day led by farmers and growers alongside NFU county adviser Catherine Hinds.
Busy two days
Part of the schedule over two days saw Herefordshire Council Conservative Leader Jonathan Lester out on a mixed family farm business, near Burley Gate, which has diversified into catering including supplying food for a local primary school.
While Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Culture and Environment Elissa Swinglehurst was shown work being done at Ross-on-Wye to use water efficiently for fruit production.
On farm, the family has built a new reservoir to protect and store the vital resource for use at times of water shortage.
Reservoirs and planning on agenda
Mrs Hinds said: “One of the visits was to a new reservoir on a horticulture site owned by NFU members and berry growers who have managed to make that investment and created it under permitted development rules.
“I thought it was fantastic to take the cabinet member for the environment out there, to actually see what that looked like on farm, but also the size of farm that it could actually support.
“Hopefully it helped show why we need to make the planning system so much easier for farmers when we are looking at infrastructure projects, including larger reservoirs that will better support business and county food production.”
“The engagement we received from the councillors out on farms was really positive and interesting.”
NFU Herefordshire County Adviser Catherine Hinds
A tour of an arable business at Ross on Wye also took place which proved to be a good opportunity to look at this year’s challenges around harvest, pest control and also discuss farm diversification.
Impact of drought
She said: “We were able to show Councillor Ed O’Drsicoll, from Ross on Wye East, the impact of the drought, how it affects businesses and what prompts business decisions including potentially spreading risk through diversification.
“Alongside food production the business also has glamping pods and equestrian facilities and we hope they can do more with the support of the council.
“We were able to show him food growing challenges and how the business has adapted and evolved over the decades.”
Poultry visit
While the visit with Bishops Frome and Cradley Councillor Rebecca Tully saw them head to a free-range poultry farm to look at the wetlands put in place to help remove phosphate and excess nutrients.
She was also able to see beef cattle on farm at Bishops Frome and look at how the family is working on more sustainable initiatives to support the landscape and put food on people’s tables.
While the final meeting was with Councillor David Hitchener who leads the county’s independent group and Mrs Hinds said it was useful to speak with him about developing the relationship with the council and its officers.