September 2025 Newsletter

After some very welcome rain at the beginning of September, soil moisture conditions became suitable for our meadow creation works to begin on schedule.
We kicked things off in the Malvern Hills National Landscape where we are working with 8 landowners to create 36ha of new, species rich lowland meadow. The works are supported by the Farming in Protected Landscape Programme and the sites are a mixture of sizes, spread across the National Landscape.

Each site is lightly scarified by a local contractor using a power harrow and then seed broadcasting support has been provided by Haydn Brookes from Ecohab Wildflowers using an adapted seed spreader which is capable of surface broadcasting the coarser brush harvested seed.  After seeding, all the sites are then rolled to help ensure good seed to soil contact.  
Some of the larger sites have been scarified in alternate strips to help make the limited amount of donor seed go further.

Over the next few years we expect the wildflowers which have been introduced to gradually colonise out from these strips as their seed is thrown around during the annual hay making process.

To ground truth the findings of the 2022 Lancaster University study on phosphorus use in the Wye catchment, in 2024 Herefordshire Rural Hub launched a whole-farm nutrient balance data collecting pilot. The aim was to understand nutrient load on farms, support better decision-making, and build a locally led dataset that reflected the real picture in the Wye. 

The pilot covered more than 60 farms across 14,000 hectares in Herefordshire, representing a mix of dairy, sheep, beef, arable, and poultry enterprises. While previous research contained in the REPHOKUS report suggested Wye soils were receiving a surplus of 6.2 kg P/ha, our local 2024 results showed an average deficit of 14 kg P/ha. This shift points to real progress in nutrient management on farms. However, the study also revealed an average surplus of 99 kg N/ha, underlining the need to take a whole-farm approach and consider the use of all major nutrients.

With continued funding from the Environment Agency and participation from Farm Herefordshire partners, including Herefordshire Meadows, the project is being expanded beyond 2025, and all farmers in the Wye are being encouraged to participate and contribute to creating this hugely important Wye Farming Dataset.

The process is straightforward and involves advisers working one-to-one with farmers to complete the assessment using PLANET FarmGate software. The calculation draws on data such as quantities of fertiliser or manure, feed or bedding, and livestock or crops brought onto or exported from the farm.

All results remain fully confidential. Individual farm's data is anonymised and combined with results from other participating farms. This collective dataset is used to create project-level reports and outputs, giving external stakeholders a clearer picture of the nutrient load and the positive steps being taken across the Wye catchment.

It is an important step in showing our local agriculture’s commitment to tackling nutrient challenges and driving more sustainable farming.

For more information and to sign up for a FREE assessment, click here