United Utilities has announced it is running its online reverse auction for winter cover crops again this month for farmers in and around Cheshire.
The auction, which closes on 28 June 2018, allows the price United Utilities pays to be determined by the farmers who participate based on their price per hectare and the resulting nitrogen saving.
Last year around 12 per cent of eligible farmers in the North West took part in the auction and successfully bid for close to £20,000 of funding to grow cover crops and save a total of 7,500 kilograms of nitrogen.
Farmers who have land within the seven safeguard zones, in and around Cheshire, can take part by placing a bid for the price they are willing to be paid to sow the crop.
The safeguard zones surround boreholes from which United Utilities extracts water.
A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “Many farmers who took part said the auction gave them the incentive to try a new land management technique that they had been considering for some time.
“The soils in the area can be very sandy and cover crops are a good way of improving the organic matter in the soil which in turn helps retain nutrients that subsequent crops can then use.”
Cover crops planted over the winter take up the nitrates which remain in the soil after the summer harvest, preventing them from leaching into the groundwater when it rains and affecting water quality in the catchment area.
They also benefit farmers by cutting fertiliser costs, reducing the need for herbicides and other pesticides, improving yields by enhancing soil health, preventing soil erosion and conserving soil moisture.
