Abstracting in the Wye
With the dry weather continuing, river levels remain very low. The EA (Environment Agency) will be writing to abstractors in the coming week to provide an update on the current situation and what further steps may be needed. The EA has asked for any voluntary reductions in abstracting if you can, and if not to try and abstract and irrigate at night. EA will also be carrying out an increased number of inspections in the coming weeks, including via aerial images. For those who are using the Sprayline service (a number to call which provides abstractors in the Wye catchment with a recorded message telling you what the flow in the river is and whether any restrictions will be imposed on your spray irrigation license), you can now receive these updates free of charge.
How to receive email updates:
1. Email [email protected] with your license number and ask to receive Sprayline updates for the Wye
2. Email notifications will be sent on a Tuesday and Thursday (or more regularly if further checks are carried out) providing updates on watercourses
3. You won鈥檛 need to call the phoneline again, as this will comply with the licence conditions of the agency providing this information
Kington and Hereford NFU branch merge
Back in November, the NFU Mutual agencies of Hereford and Kington merged to form one Hereford North and Borders NFU Mutual agency. One of the key benefits of this was to build the resources of the two offices to better service clients. On Wednesday, 16 July, the Hereford and Kington NFU branches held a joint farm walk at Moorcourt Farm, which was followed by a meeting to discuss also merging these two branches on the NFU side. Members present voted unanimously to join forces which creates a branch of circa 370 members, serviced by Group Secretaries Sonia Owens, Alec Bond, Sarah Curtis-Wynne and Tim Pote. The change will come into effect from 1 November 2025. From this date the branches will become Hereford North and Borders with both offices (Kington and Hereford) remaining for members to visit wherever suits them best.
Hereford Times Community Awards
The Hereford Times is looking for nominations for the Farmers or Small Holder of the Year category of their upcoming community awards. The award is intended to recognise all types of farmers who have shown vision in developing their business to meet the requirements of the market and the local community.
Free first aid training
Herefordshire Rural Hub is offering 48 farm businesses free hands-on first aid training which has been kindly funded by the Jack Hughes Fund and Herefordshire Community Foundation. Four workshops will be taking place across the county and the training is designed to focus on emergency first aid which is tailored specifically for farm and forestry environments. Get in touch with [email protected] if you would like to register.
Herefordshire鈥檚 thoughts on rural crime
The Rural Resilience Research Group is looking to speak to Herefordshire farmers and landowners about their experiences of rural crime. The aim is to provide the police force with recommendations as to how this could be improved going forwards. If you have had experiences of rural crime and dealing with the police, both positive or negative, your feedback would be useful.
NFU Education鈥檚 call for a curriculum update
The government is currently undertaking a curriculum review and as part of this NFU Education is asking for it to be updated to represent British food, farming and food security fairly across the education system. The two key asks are to improve the quality of food education in school and to carry out an urgent review of GCSE biology subject content relating to farming and food security. , which currently has over 36,000 names added and the aim is to reach 50,000 by the end of the summer.
Free energy audits
The Marches Energy Agency is offering free energy MOTs for homes in Herefordshire. This includes farmhouses and cottages. If you would like to arrange a visit you can do so by emailing [email protected]
Summer BBQ social
Join us to celebrate the end of another busy summer, kindly hosted by the Manning family. We鈥檒l start with a farm walk looking at the sheep, arable and environmental farm activity and hearing more about the poultry enterprise. This will then be followed by a BBQ and talk from guest speaker Harriet Cherry. Taking place Thursday, 4 September, 5:30pm, at The Hill Farm, Castle Frome, HR8 1HL. Our guest speaker, Harriet, is Senior Agricultural Relationship Manager at Wildfarmed, the regenerative farming and food business producing bread, flour and other food products grown by a network of 150 UK farming businesses. She is also a Director of Groundswell, the Regenerative Farming festival on her family鈥檚 farm in Hertfordshire. More information is available online.