Berwick firm Silvery Tweed Cereals awarded Countryside Stewardship status

The five-year scheme, put in place by DEFRA this year to improve local environments, now includes Silvery Tweed Cereals through its parent company H O Short & Sons Limited.

It includes grant funding to support farmers who undertake important work to conserve the farmed environment, as well as aimed at improving the environment for wildlife, insects, and pollinators, while also improving water and air quality.

As part of the scheme, 20 hectares of cover crops have been planted and cultivated in the open fields at The Mead farm, which became part of the Silvery Tweed operation last year. This will improve the soil structures and drainage, as well as helping to minimise soil erosion and nitrate leaching over the winter months.

This cover crop will be grazed by the sheep or cattle that call The Mead home from late January. In addition, winter bird food cover crop has been planted.

Silvery Tweed managing director Robert Gladstone said: “We are honoured to have been accepted onto the Countryside Stewardship scheme as we work to protect and improve the land for growing crops, as well as protecting wildlife.

“Our farm manager, Ross Flemming, has been hard at work on a number of projects that will help us achieve this.”

Grass margins, which will be rich in flowers for pollinators next spring and give the watercourse protection by restricting agricultural activity, have also been created.

Meanwhile, concrete and drainage work that will segregate clean and dirty water is underway in the steading. The dirty water will now be filtered through a sediment trap.