Protecting water quality looks different on every farm. For the three finalists in the inaugural Water Quality Farmer of the Year Award, it ranges from constructing wetlands and redesigning manure storage to adopting precision nutrient management and restoring soil health.
Here, we meet each finalist and discover their top strategies for integrating protection of water quality with productive, commercial farming.
The Allerton project
The Allerton project combines practical farming with research, using the farm as a testing ground for techniques that reduce nutrient loss, pesticide movement and soil erosion.
How water quality is protected at The Allerton Project
1. Protecting watercourses
Extensive buffering of watercourses has been undertaken (minimum of 12m) alongside installation of capital items such as bunded ditches, biobeds and sediment traps. There is now an 80m margin alongside the farm’s main watercourse, which includes a wetland area and pond-scrapes to reduce field runoff and water pollution.
2. Building healthier soils
Alastair has pursued a strategy of reduced tillage to minimise soil movement, alongside increasing soil organic matter and improving soil structure. This approach includes use of a low-disturbance subsoiler where needed to reduce soil compaction and the subsequent surface runoff it would cause, tailoring approach to the clay soils present on the farm. Cover crops provide autumn ground cover, helping retain nutrients and reduce the risk of soil and nutrient losses during periods of heavy rainfall.
3. Improving nutrient efficiency
Trialling use of novel products such as organo-mineral fertilisers alongside products such as R-leaf and application of organic manures has reduced synthetic fertiliser use, particularly for P applications. This approach has resulted in significant increases in organic matter, earthworm numbers and overall biological soil activity, helping to hold nutrients in the soil and keep them out of watercourses.
Tim Smith, Smith Farms, Yeovil
For Tim Smith, investment in farm infrastructure has become a cornerstone of protecting water quality. Alongside improvements to manure storage, wetlands, grass margins and soil management, every part of the farm has been designed to reduce nutrient losses before they reach local watercourses.
How water quality is protected at Smith Farms
1. Improving manure storage
A new manure store which Tim opted to build has eliminated the need for FYM to be stored in field heaps over winter, preventing an estimated 18 kg/yr of phosphorus from entering a watercourse.
Stackable farmyard manure is now kept undercover, reducing the volume of nutrient laden runoff that would otherwise occur when mixed with rainwater. Any small amount of effluent is contained and stored in an underground effluent tank. Yard runoff is also collected in a sediment trap, allowing nutrients and particulates to settle. This sediment can then be removed and spread back to the fields when required.
2. Constructing wetlands
In 2025, a 1.3ha wetland was constructed on the farm. This has a large sediment trap and a series of pools to intercept run off and reduce the soluble phosphate load entering the river running through the farm. The wetland has been certified to remove over 8 kg of phosphorus per year and the credits are used to provide nutrient neutrality mitigation for local developments.
The wetland is a permanent addition to the landscape and with the maintenance that Tim has committed to it will provide protection to the downstream water environment for generations.
3. Land management decisions
Every arable field bordering a watercourse or track has a 6m wide grass margin. Tim ensures that arable fields are rotated with herbal leys to avoid the water quality issues associated with continuous arable cropping.
Any cultivation is as low disturbance as possible, using a sward lifter style machine for subsoiling, along with mole ploughing to improve drainage. Cover cropping is an essential component of the management of the farm to prevent soil erosion in winter months, especially in fields known to be at risk of erosion or run off via overland flow pathways.
The combined impact of these decisions has been an improvement to health and productivity, while protecting watercourses.
Will Oliver, A H Oliver & Son
Will Oliver's approach centres on making better decisions using better information. By combining detailed soil and crop analysis with precision technology, he has developed a farming system that improves nutrient efficiency across arable and poultry enterprises while reducing risks to surrounding watercourses.
How water quality is protected at A H Oliver & Son
1. Nutrient management planning
Will uses a comprehensive nutrient management approach to ensure applications are accurately matched to crop demand, reducing the risk of excess nitrogen and phosphorus entering watercourses. This is underpinned by regular soil testing, in-house soil sampling, manure analysis and crop sap analysis. Organic manures from the broiler enterprise are used strategically, based on tested nutrient values, to optimise their benefit while avoiding over-application.
2. Soil health prioritisation
Soil health is a key focus, with no-till systems, cover cropping (both summer catch crops and overwinter covers), and companion cropping all helping to build organic matter, improve soil structure, and increase water infiltration. These practices reduce compaction and improve the soil’s ability to retain nutrients and water, limiting leaching and surface runoff. Additional measures such as drilling across slopes and minimising tramlines further reduce the risk of erosion and sediment loss.
The impact has been evident through improved soil resilience, reduced visible runoff during heavy rainfall, and more efficient nutrient use, supported by ongoing monitoring of soils, crops, and water both entering and leaving the farm.
3. Use of data
Will has adopted a range of innovative technologies and data-driven approaches to safeguard nearby watercourses, with a strong emphasis on precision farming and real-time monitoring. Tools such as OptiSense and spore detection systems are used to accurately assess disease risk, allowing crop protection inputs to be timed precisely and, where appropriate, applied at reduced rates, lowering the risk of chemical losses to water. The use of the Yara N-Sensorenables variable rate nitrogen applications based on crop need ensuring nutrients are applied efficiently and minimising the potential for leaching.
The Water Quality Farmer of the Year Award
All three finalists demonstrate excellence in delivering protection of water quality in commercial farming systems.
Following farm visits from the judging panel, the inaugural Water Quality Farmer of the Year will be announced at the RASE Awards Day in September.
One of the award judges, Isobel Budden from Southern Water, says:
“Visiting the finalist farms was really inspiring, with all three demonstrating real passion, innovation and the value of collaboration. Across their different approaches, they showcase how water quality can be protected and enhanced alongside successful farming businesses.”
Launched by Innovation for Agriculture with the support of Portsmouth Water, Wessex Water, Southern Water, Severn Trent Water and Anglian Water, the Water Quality Farmer of the Year Award celebrates practical farming approaches that deliver lasting improvements to water quality. By recognising and sharing examples of good practice, the award aims to encourage wider adoption of effective land management across England and Wales.
