On the 25th of May, the Foundation met Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, during a visit to Herefordshire as part of the “Saving The Earth" initiative.
The event was hosted by local farmer Chris Norman at the Leen Farm in Pembridge. Also in attendance were Angling Trust, The Rivers Trust, Environment Agency and World Wildlife Fund.
The purpose of the visit was for us to demonstrate to the minister how issues such as agricultural pollution and soil loss can be solved without adversely affecting farmers’ income.
In fact, more often than not, practices that are good for rivers and fish can also improve agricultural profitability.
We were able to show to the minister that in Herefordshire, good progress has been made to this end via the Wye Catchment Partnership. Hosted by the Foundation, this is a group of individuals and organisations with a shared interest in the river.
The Partnership has enabled the work of our farm advisors to combine with better targeted Government support for famers and more effective regulation from the Environment Agency. In Herefordshire, this supports farmers to adopt more practices that reduce pollution and increase profits.
The event was felt by all to have been successful in putting forward this message. We are very grateful to the minister for his time and to Chris Norman for hosting the day.
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