The Agriculture Research Centre at the Coleg Sir Gar Gelli Aur Campus hosted a visit for delegates of the Farmers’ Union of Wales’ eleven Standing Committees to demonstrate some of the innovative projects on slurry management.
FUW committee delegates, officials and staff heard from John Owen, Project Manager at the ARC, about two key projects - the Tywi Farm Nutrient Partnership and the Tywydd Tywi Weather App - before seeing how both initiatives work in practice on the farm to manage slurry in an effective way.
Speaking after the visit FUW Deputy President Ian Rickman said: “The Water Resources Regulations will impact every farm business across Wales to some extent. With the introduction of the second stage of requirements in January, it was a more appropriate time than ever to organise this visit in coordination with the ARC to help us understand some of the alternative measures and technological solutions that are being developed in terms of slurry management.
“The FUW has always supported this excellent work and the development of potential alternatives to the current regulations, and it was great to see so many of our Standing Committee delegates attend the visit in person after a difficult few years of virtual meetings.”
The Tywydd Tywi Weather App works using weather stations which collect various soil and plant characteristics to allow farmers to make informed decisions on nutrient management and pesticide applications based on a traffic light system, whilst the Tywi Farm Nutrient Partnership focuses primarily on the potential recirculation of on-farm nutrients.
FUW Policy Officer Elin Jenkins added: “These projects demonstrate how technology has moved on since the EU NVZ regulations were introduced under the 1991 EU Nitrates Directive - on which the Water Resources Regulations are primarily based. We truly hope the Welsh Government recognises the potential technological solutions have in helping to address water pollution, and the regulations must be reviewed to allow for that flexibility."
“We would like to thank the ARC team at Gelli Aur for the warm welcome the FUW received and for the opportunity to witness this innovative work,” Mr Rickman added.