Wetter farming: A farmers’ perspective

Friday 24 January 2025

Jenny Bennion

Jenny is our Peatlands Communications Officer, working hard to let people know all about just how precious our peatlands really are. Jenny is never happier than when scrambling around in bogs and mosslands.

Lettuce crop at the Rindle wetter farming trial - Credit: Lancashire Wildlife Trust

Wetter farming, also known as paludiculture, is the practice of farming land that had previously been drained but now has a restored naturally higher water table. But what do farmers think about it? Our peat team have been working to find out.

The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside peat team are at the forefront of research into wetter farming methods, with current trails growing sphagnum moss, bulrushes and traditional food crops including celery, lettuce and blueberries.

Whilst early results are promising, showing that by re-wetting areas of previously drained lowland agricultural peat, we can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the land, whilst also keeping it productive and hopefully financially viable. One of the big questions is what do farmers actually think about all this? Clearly the opinions of farmers and land managers are vital to understand if wetter farming is going to be adopted as part of sustainable land uses going forwards.

Wetter farming: A farmers’ perspective

Wetter farming: A farmers' perspective (https://youtu.be/fpCURaqX6TY?si=7g8c7srcSn3EkM7s)

Wetter farming: A farmers' perspective

We have been working with Manchester Metropolitan University to gather the opinions of three farmers that we are working with on wetter farming trails; understanding issues around weather, finance and agronomy (exactly how to grow the crops) which farmers think could both support but also challenge a move towards wetter farming practices in the future.

The team have also been facilitating a number of visits to our wetter farming trial sites, allowing farmers and other interested parties to actually see what wetter farming looks like.

A group of people stood in a partially flooded field — Farmers visiting the Gore House Farm bulrush wetter farming trial

Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) bulrush wetter farming trial event

January 2025 saw us attend a meeting and wetter farming trail site visit organised by the AHDB. 28 local farmers gathered to listen to talks given by Cameron Edwards the farmer we are working with at the Gore House Farm bulrush wetter farming trial in Merseyside, along with Mike Longden, the LWT peat team scientific lead, who discussed what wetter farming is, why we need it and the realities of the trial so far.

The event was a great way to engage with local farmers, many of whom are experiencing similar issues of waterlogged and unproductive land, which wetter farming may be able to address, and who expressed interest in finding out more.

A group of people listening to a talk in a green field — A group of practitioners and stakeholders attending a tour of the Greater Manchester bulrush wetter farming trial

Greater Manchester bulrush wetter farming trial tour

January 2025 was a busy month for engagement with the team also running a tour of another of our bulrush wetter farming trial sites in Greater Manchester. Aimed at a combination of engagement and knowledge exchange the tour was attended by organisations including Wyre, Rivers Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and Mersey Rivers Trust who are both working with farmers on lowland agricultural peat who are having the same issues with unproductive land.

The tour was also attended by a number of researchers from the University of Manchester, the University of East London and Liverpool John Moores University who are working on developing uses for bulrush leaves and stalks (currently the crop is being grown for it’s fluffy seed heads which are used to create BioPuff®, a sustainable filling for padded jackets) including building insulation and fibre board or take away food trays.

A group of people listening to a talk at the carbon farm — Attendees finding out more at one of the carbon farm tours

Winmarleigh carbon farm visits

Between 2021-23 the team also undertook a series of visits for both farmers, landowners, policy makers and other government and non-government organisations to the Winmarleigh carbon farm. In total approximately 300 people attended tours of the site followed by presentations and discussion sessions about the carbon farm project and wetter farming in general.

We are also excited to welcome a group of local farmers and other interested parties to a tour of the carbon farm in February 2025. This will then be followed up with a series of presentations including looking at financial projections, policy updates from Defra, information on government support for wetter farming from the National Farmers Union, and potential wetter farming crops.

We are excited to see what the future of wetter farming holds. The peat team will continue to run and expand our wetter farming trial projects, whilst also working hard to spread the word to both the policy makers and organisations that need to support wetter farming, and the farmers and landowners who could be making the difference on the ground.

Our wetter farming projects are only made possible thanks to funders including: