Muck & Slurry


Grant scheme helps farmers protect water quality


• Pollution scheme matches farm investment • Benefi ts are good for farm and environment • Can reduce erosion and boost performance


A


match-funded £5,000 grant scheme from water company Severn Trent is helping three farmers protect and enhance the environment. The Severn


Trent Envi-


ronmental Protection Scheme (STEPS) helps farmers improve water quality and soil health by providing a range of options that encourage infrastructure invest- ment and good land management. Third generation mixed farm-


er John Cantrill farms 212ha with some land in Higher Level Stew- ardship near Bridgnorth, Shrop- shire. He runs a herd of 200 fat- tening Limousin-cross cattle and a small fl ock of sheep on tack each winter. “The scheme helped us to build a new sprayer washdown area, which makes daily operations easier and protects water,” he says. “First of all, we tackled the sprayer shed and fi lling area, by building a roof and fl ooring, with a bio-fi lter system to clean any washings or pesticide spills. We then added in a rainwater har- vesting system, which allows us to use recycled water to wash down.” Following this, Mr Cantrill


set about stopping his cattle get- ting into the brook and poach- ing the surrounding area, to re- duce the chance of nitrates and cryptosporidiosis contaminating the water. “We put in 198m metres of


stock fencing around the brook, as well as new drinking troughs, pipework and hardstanding. Not only is the water now noticeably clearer, with less erosion to the banks, it’s far easier for us to move stock around.”


Soil structure


Elsewhere in the region, broth- ers Alex and Josh Spink, who farm around 300ha in Notting- hamshire, are working to mini- mise nutrient leaching and pro- tect soil structure on two sites with two distinct soil types. It is the second, tenanted farm, which is very sandy with one side running down to the River Poulter, for which they have taken advan- tage of STEPS funding. Over the past three years, they have used the grant to grow cover crops to help prevent nitrates from reach- ing the river and improve soil structure and quality.


“


It allowed us to try cover crops minimal fi nancial risk


“The blow-away sand can be quite a problem at times and we’d already started to look at how we could use spring-planted cover crops with our agronomist when a leafl et came through about Severn Trent’s grant options,” says Alex. Josh adds that the STEPS funding meant they made far quicker progress with cover crop trials and understanding of how to use them than if they had done it alone, aiding them to act now, not in the future.


“We’d have probably tried cov- er crops on one or two fi elds annu- ally and it would have taken sev- eral years longer to get to where we are now.


“But STEPS funding allowed us to try cover crops on a larger scale with minimal fi nancial risk, as the grant covered seed pur- chase and drilling costs which totalled at £60/ha.”


Gordon Robson (above) and John Cantrill (right)


20 MIDLAND FARMER • DECEMBER 2020


Alex explains that before planting cover crops, fi elds drilled with carrots near the road would suffer signifi cant run-off in wet weather and sand plumes in dry weath- er. Now the cover crops are


in, these issues have been allevi- ated, with the crops reducing the amount of cultivation and subsoil- ing required.


Clear ditch Severn Trent agricultural ad- viser Phil Billings has been sup- portive from the start, says Josh. “Phil’s passionate about farming. He wants to make things work for Severn Trent as well as the farm- er which is right – no one would do it if it didn’t work.” Such positive results were also seen for Rugby based farmer, Gor- don Robson, whose farm, being in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ), puts water quality at the top of the agenda.


Mr Robson used the STEPS grant to install livestock fencing around a running ditch that fl ows into the River Leam, helping to keep the ditch clear and prevent fl ooding.


“The fencing has stopped our herd of Beef Shorthorn Cattle ac- cessing the ditch. It sounds simple, but this has led to lots of other ben- efi ts. Our local Severn Trent ag- ricultural adviser, Marion, intro- duced us to the scheme and helped us apply.” The scheme is open for applica-


tions until 31 January 2021. For details, visit www.stwater.co.uk/ steps


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40