The Beacons Water Group Approach
Our partnership with BWG and the sharing of experiences, embracing and trialling of new ways of working, operates on the understanding that no idea is a bad idea and encourages creative thinking among its members.
The Group is challenged to develop win-win solutions focusing on the desired outcome that will bring long term benefits to both our drinking water catchments and the farming community.
Using our data and information, such as the hydrological flow mapping, the BWG are changing land management to benefit water quality across the 1103 hectares which they farm, without compromising their farm business needs.
Uniquely, we also provide a stipend to the Group, acknowledging their effort and time taken away from their businesses to build this pioneering partnership.
BWG is now widely regarded in the area as a ‘go to’ organisation for constructive input into other environmentally focused projects such as the BBMC, Usk Catchment Partnership, the 4 Rivers4LIFE project and the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority management plan. They are also a source of information and inspiration for other farmers and evolving farmer cluster groups. Their work has also influenced Welsh Government’s new Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals.
Working in collaboration
Support for BWG is increasing amongst key organisations and stakeholders who see the partnership as pioneering a new way of working on farms to deliver multiple benefits for water and the wider environment:
- ‘Stars of the Beacons’: Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority is promoting the Group which embodies the collaborative approach and openness which the park is looking for in all its partners, and a leading example of progressive thinking.
- Hosting Regulatory groups: The BWG have twice presented to the Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Wales Land Management Forum (WLMF) and will be hosting WLMF on-farm in June 2023 to gain support for the role out of the approach across Wales.
- New Sustainable Farming Scheme: The Welsh Government consultation has an entire section promoting the activities of BWG - demonstrating simple and replicable solutions that benefit the farm and the environment.
There are many benefits for both us and our BWG farmers in this partnership. We see the BWG as proactive and part of a solution, while we are a trusted key partner. Our collaboration is in its infancy, yet key lessons are being learnt which provide excellent opportunities to take to other groups:
- Empowering farmers to come up with solutions leads to engagement and mind-set change.
- There is a genuine interest in ‘doing the right thing’ demonstrating that farmers are ‘part of the solution’.
- Skilled facilitation services are essential for the running of groups and acknowledgment that relationships take time to develop.
- Multiple small groups will achieve more than fewer larger groups – a key element to empowerment is a sense of belonging and self-worth.
- BWG is thinking outside the ‘usual’ community to become a pioneering, can-do group, helping to influence policy and also as the go-to organisation for constructive input into the challenges and opportunities faced by farmers in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park area.
The BWG partnership is guiding our direction of travel for our catchment management approach in Wales, helping us to think differently on how we engage to deliver solutions that safeguard our drinking water sources and buffer against the impacts of climate change.
We will use this partnership as a stepping stone for engaging the wider farming community to improve the resilience of our water treatment works for the benefit of our customers while also supporting farming business.
We strongly believe that this partnership is successfully demonstrating how water companies and farmer groups can work together to co-create the solutions that will benefit the farming community and protect the environment.
These activities are providing valuable and practical case studies which we will share with other farm cluster groups to support a wider uptake of these land management activities.
This requires each farm to create a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) that goes beyond regulation. The plans are an integral part of developing a Whole Farm Approach to tackling diffuse pollution and balance the need for nutrient application against soil status and target crop yield. This helps reduce the potential for diffuse pollution without compromising productivity and will provide learning for other farmers who wish to adopt this approach.
A hydrological flow map can identify areas on a farm which are at increased risk of surface water run-off. By understanding where these areas are, the farmer can identify no-spread areas for nutrient and pesticides and introduce mitigation measures which could slow or redirect the flow and increase water infiltration to reduce the risk of diffuse pollution to local water courses.
The timing of nutrient application to optimise crop take-up is critical and dependant on a number of factors which include current and forecasted weather conditions, soil temperature and soil moisture.
Installing four on-farm weather stations, equipped with additional sensors, at strategic locations has provided localised data for all the BWG farms, to better inform the timing of nutrient application and record data to evidence best practice. The data is also freely available to other farmers in the vicinity.
This is a project funded with £40,000 via the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) and looks at assessing opportunities and challenges of reaching carbon neutrality, either as individual farms or collectively. The report into the project can be found here.
This is a research project being undertaken with Aberystwyth University and looks at the effectiveness and financial benefits to introducing buffer strips on farms. These strips help prevent soil, nutrient and pesticide run-off.