The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members The Farmer Connection – Engagement and Participation Paul Cottington, SW Environment Adviser. NATIONAL FARMERS UNION

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members X

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Outline of presentation The different levels of engagement. Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities for all types of engagement. Key Messages from an adviser perspective.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members The different level of engagement Catchment Approach Facilitator + Facilitator ++ Also Local Stakeholder Groups Water Framework Directive, River Basin Liaison Panels

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members DWPA Water Framework Directive, Nitrates Directive, Groundwater Directive, Drinking Water Directive etc Catchment Sensitive Farming Facilitator + WAgriCo Facilitator ++ WAgriCo

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Catchment Sensitive Farming Relationship with WAgriCo Advisers communicate on regular basis Some duplication Main characteristics National approach applied at a catchment level. Money for capital works Broad outlook on Diffuse Water Pollution from Agriculture One adviser covering large numbers of holdings and farmers. Strengths Access to specialist advisers Access to capital grants Feeds into WFD It is well known and respected

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Catchment Sensitive Farming cont… Weaknesses Farmer might be contacted by a large number of people. Blanket approach to the catchment. Not targeting problem farms, targeting problem areas. Lack of continuity Opportunity Creating consistent advice through accreditation. Improved integration with agri-environment and the Rural Development Programme. Improved catchment sharing and working together.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Facilitator + WAgriCo Relationship with WAgriCo Part of the core contract Providing evidence and first level of farmer engagement for the project Feeds back into the development of the project Strengths Adviser works with 30 farms Feedback to farmer is direct Backed up by professionals and advice directed through the given adviser. The farm pollution issues are defined by use of data Aiming to collect data as evidence to create baseline to show how change has occurred and to know what is happening.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Facilitator + WAgriCo Weaknesses Focus on data collection takes time from other activities Has to make an appointment with the farmer which can take time. Farmer relationship is not close. Constantly running out of time Opportunity/ Recommendation Focus on smaller number of farms. Need for simpler data collection system. Currently too much detail. Need a long term approach linked to baseline data.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Facilitator ++ WAgriCo Relationship with WAgriCo Part of the core contract Providing evidence and highest level of farmer engagement for the project Feeds back into the development of the project Strengths Works with a handful of farms Vast amount of data on cropping, rotation etc Advice on tap. Farmer can contact whenever and vice versa. Broad experience and also very deep. One step beyond the facilitator +

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Facilitator ++ WAgriCo Weaknesses Not complete set of data Because of water company focus it meant the approach didn ’ t always fit with the WAgriCo approach. WAgriCo is 3 years and Water Company is long term. WAgriCo bureaucracy. From farmer and adviser point of view. Lack of time and need for support Opportunity/ Recommendation Focus on smaller number of farms. Need for simpler data collection system. Currently too much detail. Need a long term approach linked to baseline data.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Local Farmer Group - WAgriCo Main characteristics Open forums No minutes taken but project officers attend meetings and views are incorporated into WAgriCo development. Provides updates, results and where project is going. Attended by National Farmers Union, Water Company, UKWIR, Consultants and FARMERS Aligned to River Basin Management Forum of WFD. Opportunity Only have them when you have something to say rather than because the project plan says you must. Could have helped shape the project more e.g. they loved the modelling and wanted more on this.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Local Stakeholder Group - WAgriCo Main characteristics Open forums No minutes taken but project officers attend meetings and views are incorporated into WAgriCo development. Meets twice yearly and gives opportunity to say what is/ has happened. Attended by Catchment Sensitive Farming Officers, Environment Agency, National Farmers Union, Water Company, UKWIR, Consultants + other agencies Aligned to River Basin Management Forum of WFD. Opportunity To carry on at a catchment level as a way of sharing information between agencies. Get them at the right time of year November/ December and June/ July

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members WAgriCo Key Achievement Removed the “ so what ” and introduced “ so this ”.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Key Messages from an Adviser perspective It takes time to get catchment information. It takes time to get farmer trust. Target advice giving based on knowledge of the catchment. You need funding to implement measures and undertake capital projects – helps with farmer engagement to have $£€ Project needs to run for long enough so you can implement changes based on the baseline data. Has to be practical and have an economic advantage to be achievable. Personality is 50% of the role the other 50% is adviser expertise.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members The farmer is happy to do something if you tell them why they need to do it, what they need to do and what the results were.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Any Questions? Funding for this work was through the EC LIFE Programme and is gratefully acknowledged