We are working with Wildfarmed, a UK-leading regenerative farming company, to invest in nature-friendly farming to help improve raw water quality. 

Alongside, Affinity Water, Wessex Water and Southern Water, we are offering a premium to farmers growing wheat in line with Widlfarmed’s Regenerative Standards to strengthen regenerative farming and help improve our long-term water security.

Wildfarmed’s Regenerative Standards include:

• not applying pesticides to a growing crop
• using companion cropping and,
• integrating livestock to farm in a nature-friendly way

The ‘Wildfarmed Water Premium’ is designed to help new and existing growers shift to regenerative farming – a model that research has shown reduces water pollution and improves soil resilience.

The Premium will be available for harvest 2025 winter and spring wheat crops. Wildfarmed growers can apply for the payment directly to their water company.

For further information, email: catchment.management@cambridge-water.co.uk  

Why this matters

In a catchment – an area where water is collected by the natural landscape – rainfall that is not utilised by plants either infiltrates into an aquifer to become groundwater or continues on the surface as runoff, eventually flowing into surface water systems such as streams, rivers and lakes.

Agriculture, industry, waste management and water abstraction can all have an impact on the catchment and on the quality of the water within it.

The quality of raw water in our region's catchments is generally very good; however, there are some substances used in agriculture that prove persistent in the environment and pose a risk of impacting raw water. This then puts pressure on our water treatment works and the work we need to do to preserve the high-quality drinking water that comes out of our customers’ taps.

This Premium with Wildfarmed helps to support farmers not just with their crop, but also, the quality of the ecosystem in which it was grown.

Nina Yiannoukos-Benton, Catchment Projects Manager at Cambridge Water, commented: “We’re delighted to be working with Wildfarmed to offer regenerative farmers this financial aid to not only help their crops but also, make our water catchments more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

“We want to develop sustainable nature-based solutions to improve the quality of the water in our region, relying less on carbon-intensive, ‘end of pipe’ treatment. By tackling problems at source, we improve the resilience of our water resources for the future. This not only benefits the environment, but our customers too.”

To find out more about the Wildfarmed Water Premium, click here.