Farmers offered pollution advice and grants

The England Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative is set to enter its second phase, with Defra budgeting a further £13 million for the scheme.

The initiative aims to reduce farming pollution of rivers, streams and lakes due to the run-off of farming waste and chemicals seeping through the land.

It also encourages farmers to work together to tackle pollution, so that the government doesn’t have to impose legislation.

Farmers who take part in the scheme are offered advice, catchment management, and grants to help them implement sustainable and environmentally friendly farming methods.

Practices that are encouraged are ensuring good soil structure to retain soil nutrients, increasing the organic matter used to fertilise soil, and reducing soil compaction.

Other advice includes creating sediment traps for rain-washed soil, and moving gateways to prevent soil being washed from field to field.

Since its inception in 2006, the scheme has provided over 6,000 farmers with advice, covering over 15% of the UK’s farms.

More than 75% of farmers given advice said that they would change their practices to reduce water pollution.

Because it has been so successful, Defra is investing a further £13 million to continue the initiative. £5 million of this will be given away in grants.