As summers grow drier and water levels fall, farmers face an increasing challenge in meeting the water needs of crops and livestock.
Without solutions, this puts yields, and ultimately businesses, at risk.
A package of drought support for farmers was recently announced by the Prime Minister, including:
temporary adjustments to Environmental Land Management agreements an additional £50 million for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) £15 million Water Management Grant for constructing on-farm reservoirs.In addition to these measures, one way we're supporting farms is through investment in innovation.
Through the Farming Innovation Programme and its ADOPT Fund (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies), we’re backing farmer-led ideas that strengthen access to water and help businesses adapt to increasingly hot and dry weather.
In this post, we share 3 farmer-led projects already underway.
Aquifer recharging: banking winter rainfall for summer droughts Credit: Picryl / DVIDSIn East Anglia, it is harder for growers of crops like potatoes and vegetables to secure reliable water supplies for irrigation.
Summer river abstraction is becoming harder, and reservoirs are a large investment.
You can find out more on funding that the government is providing for the construction of on-farm reservoirs later in this post.
Meanwhile, an ADOPT-funded project is testing whether a solution lies underground.
William Kerr Farms in Suffolk is testing a reliable alternative to reservoirs called Managed Aquifer Recharge.
Underground aquifers are usually filled very slowly through rainfall. This project speeds that up, pumping in water from rivers in the winter during the wet season, storing water when it is plentiful.
This technique has been used across the world in drier climates, but is rare in the UK.
The project is testing the construction and use of an artificial aquifer, looking at the commercial viability for farms in England.
With England’s unique geological conditions, the project is testing how quickly water can be extracted during summer when crop demand is at its peak.
As well as being more economical to build than reservoirs, less water is lost through evaporation. By sitting below the crops, it also doesn't use up farmland.
This trial aims to demonstrate that the technology can work in England. If successful, this could be rolled out more widely across the country.
Smart irrigation: precision watering to tackle a gap in yield Credit: Tim ScrivenerConventional hose-reel irrigation applies water evenly, despite differences in soil drainage across a field.
Heavier soils may be over-watered while sandier patches receive too little water. Research suggests that this imbalance leads to yield losses of 10-20%.
This is a common challenge for growers. An ADOPT-funded project is focused on precise irrigation to improve productivity with less water.
The trial with Waldersey Farms in Cambridgeshire and Elveden Estate in Suffolk, working with Water Resources East, is developing a smart irrigation system for onions and potatoes, aiming to improve crop yield while cutting costs.
Over 2 growing seasons, the team behind the project are comparing both conventional and advanced irrigation systems to track yield, quality of product, and costs on different soil types.
The advanced irrigation system uses data on soil, crop growth, and weather to apply the optimal amount of water to each 20 x 20 metre piece of land.
Previous evidence suggests the approach could deliver water and energy savings of 20-25%, along with yield gains.
The trial is testing whether those benefits hold up under everyday conditions.
Floatovoltaics: turning farm reservoirs into income-generating assets Credit: Innovate UKFarm reservoirs give farmers a resilient water supply. We are taking steps to ensure farmers have the confidence to invest in reservoirs to guarantee water supplies during the growing season by storing water captured over the winter months. There is a way they could generate income for farm businesses too.
Funding secured through the 2023 Farming Futures competition has enabled Cranfield University and Pollybell Farm, a broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage producer near Doncaster, to explore how floating solar panels, known as floatovoltaics, can generate an additional source of farm income.
These floating panels work like ground-mounted solar panels, but free up farmland. They also shade the water from evaporation losses and run more efficiently from the natural water cooling.
The project team is using wireless sensor data to conduct research on farm. It has collated 2 years of real data from the solar panels, reservoir water and the farm's energy use.
Farmer James Brown explained that installing floating panels was an obvious way forward to increase farm generation of renewable energy and to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
The project team has since produced a practical guide to help other farmers considering the technology for their own reservoirs.
The guide covers planning permission, anchoring systems, maintenance and the financial benefits of investing in floating solar. Visit the UK Irrigation Association website for updates.
Apply for ADOPT fundingTwo of the projects featured in this post received support through ADOPT. If you have an idea you'd like to test on your farm, applications are now open.
We blogged about the current opportunities today, but you can also find out more about ADOPT and the official grant guidance on the UKRI website.
New grant for building on-farm reservoirsAs mentioned, for farmers looking to build new on-farm reservoirs, a new £15 million Water Management Grant will be available from this autumn.
This complements wider government action to make it easier to secure planning permission for this kind of infrastructure.
We'll publish further information when the grant guidance and application details are available.
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seen at 18:37, 20 August in Farming.