East England farmers planted1,000 hectares of soil-protecting crops in summer

Farmers in East of England this summer, planted 1,000 hectares of cover crops – non-commercial plants including grasses beans that improve soil quality under a scheme funded by Anglian Water according to the water company.

Now in its second year, the scheme help towards the cost of cover crop seed. Cover crops increase organic matter to improve arable produce; they increase the soil’s capacity to hold water to improve resilience to water shortages, and they reduce the need for pesticides and thereby stem chemical run-off into local watercourses.

And Anglian Water is about to launch its third Farm Innovation Grant, offering support to farmers in its region, in developing innovative solutions to local raw water quality challenges relating to herbicides, nitrates, phosphates and soil loss in priority catchments.

Applications will be open from 2 October 2023.

Anglian said the fund supported over 45 projects last year and brought benefits worth more than £1m in the region. The projects form part of the company’s Water Industry National Environment Programme  – a total investment of over £800m into work which is specifically targeted at protecting the environment and improving water quality.