• People and the River

Upcoming Event: ‘The Same But Different’ – Agriculture & Water Workshop 2025

On Thursday 27th November 2025 at Lavenham Village Hall, the 17th annual event of the Agriculture & Water workshop is happening! Sponsored by Essex & Suffolk Water and run by Jim Woodward of Farmacy Plc, the event is free with lunch provided and BASIS, FACTS and NRoSO points available so please bring your NRoSO and BASIS numbers):

 

‘Doing the same thing as always is not going to end well when all around us is changing. This is true in many situations, but when it comes to farming we seem to have reached a point where the status quo needs critiquing. We can identify an number of factors:

· End of the Single Farm Payment – very unlikely we will see the return of direct payments

· Low farm gate prices – imports are easily accessed from all over the world

· Erratic weather and its effect on yield

· Input costs that are firm – price of fertiliser remains strong for example

· Operational costs – fuel, labour and depreciation – these are 55% of growing costs – needs more attention

· Long term issues around sustainability – especially with regard to soils, soil health and resilience. This links to weather and yield reliability.’

 

The agenda has now been finalised and there are a number of excellent speakers for this exciting event:

09:45 – 10:00 – Arrival, Registration and Refreshments

10:00 -10:05 – Introductions, Objectives, Agenda (Jim Woodward, Farmacy Plc)

10:05 -10:10 – River Stour Water Quality and FtT Grant Scheme (Steve Derbyshire, Essex & Suffolk Water)

10:10-10:15 – Anglian Water – River Colne Update (Gary Hodgetts, Anglian Water)

10:15 – 11:15 – Crop Economics – Why Gross Margins are not enough (Will Foyle, HL Hutchinson)

11:15 – 11:30 – Tea / Coffee

11:30 – 11:55 – Phosphate – Doing it better (Rob Jewers, HL Hutchinson)

11:55 – 12:20 – Sustainable Farming Incentive Update (Jim Woodward, Farmacy Plc)

12:20 – 1:15 – Lunch

1:15 – 1:45 – Data, Records, Budgets and Management (James Lane, Omnia)

1:45 – 2:15 – Nitrogen – Doing it better (Jade Prince, HL Hutchinson)

2:15 – 2:30 – Tea / Coffee

2:30 – 2:45 – A Mink Free East Anglia in Sight (Darren Tansley, Essex Wildlife Trust)

2:45 – 3:20 – Blackgrass – It is changing. What you need to know (Dick Neale, HL Hutchinson)

3:20 – 3:30 – Summary – Take Home Messages and Actions (Panel)

3:30 – 3:40 – Farmer Feedback & Discussion including the Christmas Quiz (All)

3:45 – Close

 

If you would like to be added to the invitation list please email Jim Woodward (jim.woodward@farmacy.plc.uk) with your name, business address, phone number and e-mail address.

There is also still the offer of an in depth soil test 100% paid for by Essex & Suffolk Water. If you are interested, please send Jim your details and location with an SBI number. Provided you are in the target area, you could get a test and report worth £500.00.

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Pressures

The topics below represent the pressures that many waterbodies in the Combined Essex catchment face. They have been divided into six main categories, but it is quite often that these categories can overlap as pressures relate to each other.

Diffuse Pollution

Diffuse pollution occurs as water moves across the land or through the ground and picks pollutants. These pollutants can come from a variety of places, including urban and field run off. The pollutants that enter the river can range from sediment to toxins to excess nutrients, meaning that diffuse pollution can cause a whole range of different issues. The variety in these pressure groups means that it is something that can be quite difficult to tackle. It requires groups of people, business and stakeholders to work together in order to solve this problem.

Fish Passage

Fish should be able to travel up and down a river freely, allowing them to move and breed in the most suitable habitats for them. It is important that fish populations do not become isolated, as this makes them more susceptible to disease and puts pressure on their survival. Unfortunately, there are often many barriers along rivers that prevent fish from being able to migrate up and down stream. Where barriers have been identified, they will be seen as a ‘pressure’ on a waterbody. Thankfully, there are many solutions now that can be put in place to aid fish passage, even over large barriers.

Flow

The flow in a river can vary greatly throughout the year as rainfall and run off can have an effect. This is a natural process. It is when flow is impacted by non-natural processes that it can cause problems. Sometimes, water can be intercepted or removed from a system; this will reduce the flow, therefore changing the habitat conditions. Some species are happy in high energy rivers. This means that when flow is reduced, these species will no longer survive. The opposite of this can occur when excess water is entering a river, for example through increased runoff. Low energy systems then become high energy and displace the species that live there.

Invasive Species

A species that is not meant to be found in a particular area is known as an invasive species. Invasive species can be from a different habitat or a different country altogether. Most of the invasive species that we find on our rivers have come from other countries – plants that people have imported for their gardens or animals that have been released for food or by animal rights activists. Control of invasive species requires a lot of time and effort. We are fortunate that we do have a range of methods to manage most of the invasive species that cause havoc on our rivers, but there are still some which we are still struggling to control.

Physical Modification

Many of our rivers have been heavily modified over the years as rivers have been used for a wide range of purposes. Physical modification is one of the biggest factors that causes our rivers to be unhealthy. The issues that it can cause range from reducing habitat, preventing migration of mobile species, and even have an effect on the water quality. Where structures and modifications are no longer in use or necessary, they should be removed to allow the river to regain its natural state. Unfortunately, this action is not always taken which means that many of our rivers are over straightened and contain redundant structures. It is possible to return a lot of our rivers to their natural state, through one off projects, but in other cases it is not possible as the river has been changed to protect assets or manage flooding. It is recognised that some modifications cannot be removed without having severe negative impacts both socially and economically.

Point Source

This is pollution that comes from a single identifiable source. The pollution entering the river could include a whole range of pollutants. Some point source pollution is known about and licences, for example sewage treatment works. Other sources are not licensed, and therefore work needs to be done with landowners to fix the problems that are allowing the pollution to enter the river. Point source pollution is more easily controlled than diffuse pollution as it often only takes one management approach to solve the issue.