Growing partnership promotes future-proofed farming across Yorkshire

Yorkshire Water’s Sustainable Landscapes Programme, in partnership with Future Food Solutions, has farming members across the whole of the county, with Anglian Water and Thames Water companies adopting the principles, to replicate its success.

Since then, the partnership and farmer-focussed networking events have grown with groups at Topcliffe, Shipton, Elvington, Wolds, East Riding, Walkington, Selby, Doncaster and the recent addition of a new group at East Ness.  As well as growing the membership, the remit of the Sustainable Landscapes Programme has expanded too.

Together, the utility and consultancy are working with farmers across the region to adopt sustainable farming practices, with initiatives such as providing 8 hectares (Ha) of cover crop, per farm free of charge. This helps to soak up nitrates and stop it running into watercourses, secure organic matter and improve soil nutrients, without any cost for the farmer.

Engagement with the farming community has grown substantially. The combination of the catchment, flood prevention and run-off expertise of the Yorkshire Water team, coupled with the real-world benefit that Future Food Solutions have demonstrated to farm businesses, has delivered cultural change in farming practices across the region.  These practises include helping to:

• Reduce nitrogen and fertiliser run-off
• Slow the flow, protect drinking water and improve river health
• Use soil-technology to plant appropriate drought-resilient cover crops
• Access to innovation, knowledge share and peer-to-peer networking

Andrew C Walker, catchment strategy manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Using regenerative agricultural practices helps us to reverse some of the impacts of climate change and restore degraded soil by rebuilding organic matter and encouraging biodiversity. This approach helps to reduce pollution at source, which stops agri-run-off infiltrating into rivers and waterways, and helps to build a more resilient and sustainable model of farming. 

“The benefits for Yorkshire Water are stopping any agricultural run-off causing potential pollution events at source, as well as removing the need for costly and carbon intensive water treatment process.  Through Future Food Solutions, we can work directly with Yorkshire farmers with access to free cover crops, cutting edge technologies and programmes that enhance soil structure, fertility and productivity.

“Access to cutting edge soil-quality technologies was invaluable in the last two growing seasons, when farmers had access to Paul-Tech soil stations, giving them a clear picture of how nutrients and moisture behave in real field conditions. We had a very wet winter in 2024 and 2025 brought the warmest, driest summer for over 135 years and the data highlighted practical steps to help crops perform better whilst reducing the risk to water quality.”

Future Food Solutions started a new farmer networking group at East Ness, nr Malton recently.  The family-run consultancy now has a Sustainable Landscapes membership across the whole of Yorkshire. 

Paul Rhodes, director and founder of Future Food Solutions, said: “Having our famers on board with these principles creates a resilient supply chain. Access to support such as the 8Ha of free cover crop, allows our farming community to innovate without financial risk, which is critical when margins are so tight.

“We’re empowering farmers with climate-smart practices to boost resilience, improve soil, protect water, and capture carbon, helping these businesses to thrive in a challenging environment. 

“Equally, we’re providing a valuable community network where farmers share issues, ideas and innovations. This is really important when we are seeing such dramatic change in weather patterns, such as the drought last year. 

“We deployed 50 Paul-Tech soil monitoring stations across participating farms in Yorkshire Water catchments last year. This data-led initiative is designed to support farmers in improving nitrogen use efficiently through real-time monitoring. This provided invaluable insight into soil moisture, temperature and nutrient availability across the region.

“The practical application of this real-time data allows our farmers to understand nitrogen dynamics in response to variable weather patterns. It gives them the information they need to make informed decisions around the timing and application of nitrogen, reducing losses and maintaining crop yield and performance.”

Yorkshire Water started the Sustainable Landscapes in 2018 with 16,000 hectares (Ha) in three geographically centred innovation groups around York.  It has expanded significantly with 264 farmers covering over 126,500 hectares, which equates to 22% of all of Yorkshire’s arable land.

The Sustainable Landscapes Programme adopts a data-first approach to test and monitor its success has demonstrated the rate and scale of which large amounts of CO2 can be sequestered through the increases made by soil organic carbon.

By supporting practical, on-farm changes such as delivering 138 cover crops and improved nutrient management, the programme has helped cut pollution entering rivers and groundwater, reducing an estimated 636,064kg of nitrogen and 139,364kg of phosphate or the equivalent of 31 and seven wagon loads respectively, going into the water. 

For AMP8 (2025–2030), the programme has expanded to nine innovation groups in total (including four new groundwater groups for AMP8) and is delivered as part of the Clean Water WINEP programme, under the Water Framework Directive DrWPA_ND (Drinking Water Protected Area - No Deterioration) drivers for both surface water and groundwater abstractions. 

The focus of the Sustainable Landscapes Programme is to promote cultural and behavioural change in agriculture that prioritises soil health and reducing nitrate, pesticide, herbicide and microbiological contamination of raw water resources.

Through the SL programme, we can show that the principles of regenerative agriculture are ultimately more profitable e.g. a 10% reduction in yield is offset by reductions in fertiliser/ insecticide applications and a significant reduction in time and diesel involved with ploughing. As such, if it is demonstrated to be more profitable as well as more environmentally sustainable, it is far more likely to become self-sustaining and business as usual.  

The programme is supported by data-driven methodologies to track progress, demonstrate value and allowing continuous improvements made by engaged farmers to be tracked towards programme goals including nutrient reduction. As well as utilisation of innovative monitoring technologies such as Paul-Tech, Sencrop soil sensors and AgriSound biodiversity monitoring, the programme utilises a Sustainability Index to baseline and measure farm progress against a range of metrics.

The Sustainability Index (SI) has evolved as knowledge expands and delivers each farmer with a bespoke plan of how they can improve their performance. It is independent of other agronomic advice tools which may drive sales of a particular agrochem product. The anonymised data can be used as evidence of real positive change in agriculture to the EA as part of WINEP sign off. 

The most recent results of the Sustainability Index in January 2026 demonstrate that farmer attitude responses indicate high motivation to reduce environmental impact and become more sustainable, alongside a broadly positive view of the role sustainability plays in improving business resilience AND reducing environmental impact.

Performance was strongest in Water Quality and Good Farming Practices, with Carbon footprint being a priority area for all groups. Additionally, opportunities relate to improving data and decision support tools as well as using peer-to-peer learning to accelerate adoption.

In summary, the Sustainable Landscapes Programme has demonstrated the power of collaborative, data-driven approaches to foster genuine and lasting change within the agricultural sector. By prioritising soil health, reducing reliance on agrochemicals, and supporting farmer-led innovation, the initiative is paving the way for resilient, environmentally responsible farming across Yorkshire and beyond, benefitting both availability and quality of YW’s raw water sources.

This includes the use of cover crops, which protect soil over winter, capture excess nutrients and reduce the risk of pollution washing into watercourses.

During the 2025 season alone, 1,573 hectares of cover crops were established through the programme, helping to capture around 160,600 kg of nitrogen that could otherwise have been lost to the environment.

Delivering results at scale

The latest programme report shows clear environmental and farming benefits being delivered across Yorkshire:

• Around 39,700 tonnes of biomass generated by cover crops, improving soil health and reducing erosion risk
• Strong evidence of farmers adopting practices beyond supported areas, demonstrating lasting behaviour change
• Improved nutrient efficiency, helping farmers reduce input costs while protecting water quality

The programme also provides a platform for farmers to learn from each other, with events, field trials and knowledge-sharing helping to accelerate adoption of best practice.

Collaboration driving change across Yorkshire

Sustainable Landscapes is delivered in partnership with Future Food Solutions and supported by a range of organisations and supply chain partners, reflecting a shared commitment to protecting Yorkshire’s environment.

Yorkshire Water is also working alongside wider initiatives such as Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs), which bring together businesses, farmers and public sector partners to co-invest in environmental improvements.

Since 2023, LENs Yorkshire has supported 13 farms across more than 3,200 hectares, with over £865,000 invested in regenerative farming practices in 2024 alone.

A long-term commitment to nature and water

The success of Sustainable Landscapes shows how collaboration and practical action on farms can deliver real improvements for water quality, nature and climate resilience.

The programme continues to expand as part of Yorkshire Water’s plans for AMP8 (2025–2030), with new farmer groups and innovations—such as real-time soil monitoring—helping to further improve outcomes.

By working closely with farmers and partners, Yorkshire Water is helping to create healthier rivers, protect vital drinking water sources and support a more sustainable future for Yorkshire’s landscapes.