It has been the biggest privilege to support farmers and land managers through Catchment Sensitive Farming on the Isle of Wight. But, after almost two-years, I am leaving my role to take up a new job based on the mainland.
I have visited and supported almost 100 different farms providing best practice advice, assistance with agri-environmental schemes and infrastructure improvements. And I have enjoyed every visit to every type of farm in every type of weather.
The Isle of Wight is where I grew up, went to school and have spent most of my life. So, it will be really hard to leave this unique and special place.
It has been an incredibly busy two years, but the warmth and support from the farming community and wider agri-environmental sector has always been tremendous. Thank you for welcoming me onto your farms and into your homes and businesses.
I have also appreciated the humour – even when things may look less than rosy, like due to difficult business conditions or after an EA farm inspection.
Before I leave, I will be continuing to support farmers and land managers in their preparations for the reopening of the 2026 SFI from June (for smaller farms and those without an existing ELMS agreement) and September (for everyone else) as well as the 2026 Capital Grant Offer, which reopens in July. If you have a pipeline case with me or a CSF farm visit in the diary, rest assured, I will make sure your paperwork will be over the line before I leave. I will be unable to take-on new cases, however.
My new job will be working for an international risk advisory company and I will still very much be covering the farming and agri-environmental sector. I have no doubt that everything I have learned from farmers and land managers over the last two years will be useful.
I will also be handing over management of the Weather Watchers Project to my successor Catchment Sensitive Farming Adviser. Over the winter, Natural Enterprise installed a new network of six weather stations and six soil sensors across the Eastern Yar catchment area on the Isle of Wight.
Receiving support from Southern Water, this network is providing farmers and land managers with highly-localised weather information – including forecasting, real-time and historical data, weather alerts and agronomic advice – to support farm-level decision-making, including spraying and drilling. Using equipment and software supplied by Sencrop, a French agri-tech company, the data is available on app and desktop formats to participating farmers and land managers – completely free-of-charge.
Soil sensors, meanwhile, are providing farmers with soil temperature and soil moisture readings to optimise irrigation, provide water stress alerts and support drilling decision-making.
The project’s overall objective is to help farmers and land managers optimise decision-making in order to improve water quality and ecological outcomes in the catchment area whilst supporting farm productivity and resilience. Farmers, for example, can use the data to help decide when to spray or when to move farm machinery, which not only can help create business efficiencies but also reduce the risks of nutrient and sediment run-off into nearby watercourses.
From Knighton in the north of catchment to Niton in the south, the app is already being used by several of the largest farms in the catchment area. And the project has been testament to the successful collaboration among farmers, land managers and agri-environmental stakeholders.
Natural Enterprise is inviting more farmers and land managers to the project’s network and to explore how to further support farmer cooperation in the catchment and beyond over the coming years. If you are interested in joining the project, please email: catchmentsensitivefarmingiow@naturalenterprise.co.uk
NB This article is written independently of Wight Rural Hub editorial content.