A unique local heritage
The Aqualate Mere catchment area has been farmed since pre-Roman times. The unique ecosystems that exist here today are the product of that long-term relationship between farmers and the land.
Aqualate Mere Farmers strive to strengthen that legacy. Our members range from local businesses to large-scale producers, and many of us come from local families who have farmed this landscape for generations and hold a deep connection with both the land and the community.
We are exploring innovative ways of farming that boost our local economy as much as our local ecology, working both as a group and individually. Many of us collaborate in research and trials with the UK’s leading agricultural university, Harper Adams.
Several of our members are using robots and drones to carry out farm work such as seeding and spraying crops, or herding livestock. Among other benefits, this means fewer heavy vehicles are needed on the land, which both decreases carbon emissions and enhances carbon sequestration by reducing the compaction of soil.
Our farms are hydrologically connected through the Aqualate Mere water system. As the run-off from our farms all flows into the mere, what we do on our land determines the quality of water flowing through this system.
Looking at the web of water connectivity throughout the catchment and coordinating our efforts to make changes across the whole network dramatically amplifies the impact of our work.
This collaboration is only possible thanks to our partners and sponsors, whose logos are at the foot of this page. If you would like to partner with us to help farming and nature thrive together, please get in touch.
Our Farmers
Wojtek Behnke
“Being a landowner is about being a custodian of that land. It's not just for you, it has a wider benefit. You're lucky enough to have that opportunity to manage that natural resource and it's important that we try and do it as best as we can.”
Wojtek runs a mixed farm of crops, arable, and livestock at the Aqualate Estate, on land his family has stewarded for over 200 years. He holds a degree in Land Management from Harper Adams University and was an early adopter and advocate for regenerative farming. His herds of Lleyn sheep and Northern Dairy Shorthorn cattle are farmed with minimal human interference. The animals are grazed on open land, and herded on to fresh pasture approximately every three days with the cows following the sheep.
Moving the animals regularly gives the land a chance to recover, facilitating greater plant diversity and insect life and increasing the soil's capacity for carbon sequestration as plants grow deeper roots. As cows follow the sheep through the pastures, each helps to protect the other from parasites without the need for chemicals. The livestock are selectively bred to produce animals uniquely specialised to thrive with the land they live on, and the use of pharmaceuticals kept to the bare minimum.
On the arable side, Wojtek currently grows wheat, barley and oilseed rape, undertaking a long-term project to build back soil health after decades of overfarming to improve the quality and nutritional value of crops they can produce on the land.
Wojtek is always keen to share his expertise and expand his knowledge in regenerative farming techniques that revitalise the land whilst delivering sustainable profits, and in new opportunities in the natural capital market. You can get in touch with him here.
