The Rindle wetter farming trail

At our Winmarleigh carbon farm we saw a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the site of almost 90 per cent – in just one year!

However, that solution can also cause a problem. What about all of the farmers that need to make a living from their lowland peat farms? After all, let’s not forget that after the Second World War and beyond farmers were being subsidised by the government to drain peatland and turn it into farmland. This is where wetter farming, or paludiculture, comes in.

Wetter farming is the practice of re-wetting land and then growing crops which thrive in these wetter conditions. It acts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the land, whilst also keeping it financially viable for farmers and landowners. And your Wildlife Trust is right at the forefront of this exciting new development, trialling new crops and re-wetting techniques that have never been tried before.

Up until 2021, this field in Greater Manchester was growing a crop of potatoes. With ever decreasing yields and regularly waterlogged soil, the land was becoming unprofitable. Thanks to funding from Biffa Award, we were able to purchase the field and start the process of re-wetting the peat.

Historic field drains were blocked and bunding was installed to stop precious water from leaving the site. A series of irrigation channels and weirs were also created to help control water levels across the field.

Then in May 2022 planting started. Our first trial was a celery crop. To be honest, none of the farmers we were working with gave it a chance, but with no additional nutrients at all it nearly made it all the way to harvest, proving that there was hope.

This spring another celery crop has been planted, along with a trial plot of blueberries. This time the celery will be grown with some additional organic nutrients, and both crops will be farmed at two different water levels, one closer to the surface and another at 50cm below ground level.

Greenhouse gas releases across the site will be measured by our project partners, Liverpool John Moores University, to see how these different treatments affects emissions. Ideally, we are looking for that ‘sweet spot’ where crops grow well, and emissions are as low as they can be.