News

NFFN Cymru launches The Weatherproof Farm in Wales booklet

Wales
Soil
soil health

The publication guides farmers on how to improve their soil health to boost resilience in the face of extreme weather.

NFFN Cymru has launched a new booklet highlighting the vital role soil health plays in helping farms cope with increasingly volatile weather and a changing climate.

The Weatherproof Farm in Wales, produced in partnership with soil health expert Niels Corfield, is a practical, farmer-focused guide to improving resilience and profitability from the ground up. It is packed with insights and real-world examples from nature-friendly farmers about making farms who are strengthening pasture performance and soil management while reducing reliance on costly chemical inputs such as artificial fertilisers.

The booklet guides farmers through the process of testing their soil and recognising healthy soil, before outlining practical solutions to improve soil structure through livestock grazing management, maintaining living roots and increasing plant diversity in the field.

NFFN Cymru manager Rhys Evans said: “Farming in Wales is getting more and more difficult, both climatically and economically. Farmers are facing hotter, drier summers and wetter winters, with grass burning off in dry spells and fields poaching in wet conditions. At the same time, costs are rising and margins are getting tighter.

Healthy soils drain better in winter and retain moisture in summer. This leads to better grass growth, healthier livestock, lower bills and more successful farm businesses.

Rhys Evans

“The good news is that focusing on soil health can be a solution to many of these problems. Healthy soils drain better in winter and retain moisture in summer. This leads to better grass growth, healthier livestock, lower bills and more successful farm businesses.

“Practices such as agroforestry, herbal leys or rotational grazing, can feel unfamiliar at first. This booklet breaks down exactly what farmers need to do, and shows, through the experience of our members, how these approaches can weatherproof farms for the challenges of the 21st century.”

The booklet was recently unveiled at the Senedd in Cardiff, where its lessons for the future of Welsh agriculture were presented to politicians and policymakers.

To mark the launch, NFFN Cymru took the message on the road, staging five events across Wales where audiences heard from Niels Corfield and NFFN Cymru farmers involved in the project. These were funded by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. 

The booklet is available to all NFFN members and can be accessed from the dashboard of the members' section of this website. Membership is free.

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