The LANDWISE team needs help from farmers in the West Tames area (Maidenhead, Reading, Basingstoke, Oxford, Swindon, Banbury, Cirencester).
We are looking at how different types of land use and management can be used to help manage water movement on and off farm. To do this, we need to understand how farmers currently use different types of soils and crops so that we can create sensible and realistic scenarios to test in computer simulations; and to help us identify which areas to investigate further within our research through on-the-ground and satellite measurements.
We have designed a short survey to collate local farmer knowledge. The survey can be completed on line and should take no more than 10 minutes: https://glos.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/landwise
Alternatively, if you prefer a paper copy, please send you name and address to the Landwise Project Office (e-mail: landwise@reading.ac.uk; paper mail: Joanna Clark, Landwise Project Office, Russell Building, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6DW)
The findings will be helpful in understanding the challenges that all farmers face when managing their land and the changes that they may have, and may wish to make in the future. Such information is really important for shaping future policy and decision-making regarding both national and local schemes and programmes. The survey may enable us to identify practices which are also beneficial agronomically.
The project is being led by the University of Reading with support from a wide range of groups and organisations from across the West Thames. The survey has been designed together with local farmers, NFU, Natural England, FWAG and the Universities of Reading and Gloucestershire. The LANDWISE project is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and is seeking to better understand how land management in lowland areas might contribute to reducing the risks from floods and drought.