There will be two Farm Herefordshire meetings on Tuesday 14 June, which the NFU is supporting, and topics will centre on commercial food production alongside managing phosphates.
The River Wye is a special area of conservation, SAC, and much work is being done by the farming community and the Farm Herefordshire initiative to tackle water quality on the catchment.
Both ‘muck, phosphate and water’ meetings will be held at Wistaston Farm, King's Pyon, by kind permission of Garstone Farms.
The first session mainly aimed at farmers will be from 2pm to 4.30pm and will look at responsibility and profitability with updates from Farm Herefordshire partners; a farm walk will follow with Steve Klenk and Chris Greenaway.
At the first meeting NFU Herefordshire deputy chairman Martin Williams, of Tump Farm, Fownhope, (pictured) who is also Farm Herefordshire chair, will give a talk entitled ‘phosphate in rivers: where we are and where we need to be’.
Grace Wright, from the Environment Agency, will discuss compliance and inspections and Kate Speke-Adams, Wye and Usk Foundation, will cover what is known about the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs) to date - the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery schemes.
The second session from 6pm to 8pm, which farmers are welcome to but is mainly aimed at stakeholders and other interested parties, will be a briefing session on what is happening on the ground.
This will give those who attend the chance to meet some of the Farm Herefordshire partners and discuss challenges being faced within the county including river nutrient levels, ELMs and the Farming Rules for Water.
The National Farmers’ Union is a member of Farm Herefordshire alongside the Environment Agency, Natural England, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, the CLA and others.
Booking is essential and numbers are limited, please contact [email protected] or call 01432 353465.
NFU members with questions and queries can also contact Herefordshire county adviser Ali Parker or environment adviser Georgie Hyde on 01952 400500.