Regional roundup

East of England and Yorkshire

Join the LENs Farmers Whatsapp Group for news and information across the trade year. Please email Tris on tris.baxter-smith@3keel.com to be included for East of England. Rebecca is planning to set up a WhatsApp group for Yorkshire LENs farmers as an effective means of communication, ensuring that you are all aware of any updates and are generally kept in the loop with all things LENs. If Yorkshire farmers would like to be included in the group, please email Rebecca on rebecca.thompson@3keel.com or message her on 07356 160612.

Beans. In our last newsletter we put a plea out for bean growers and have been looking for opportunities to support our growers in England to increase beans and other proteins into the rotation. We are pleased to now announce a bean buy back contract with Mole Valley who also provide agronomic support and experience in growing the bean varieties they provide.

Mole Valley is particularly focussed on the protein levels in crops for their supply. If growers are able to share their own analysis of seed, or send samples to Mole Valley for analysis after harvest, we can develop opportunities for LENs farmers to supply crops.

The feed team requires high starch in wheat (around 60%), with protein levels sitting at approximately 11%. Soya typically has a protein level of 45%, so where we are looking to replace or reduce soya usage in our feeds, the protein content of UK-grown crops needs to be consistently at its maximum. For beans or lupins, this target is a minimum of 25% crude protein. Gathering regional data on tonnage per hectare from this year’s harvest will be incredibly useful as we develop these markets.

Cymru/ Wales

LENs’ first full trade in Wales is underway, with 12 farms currently preparing to implement measures over the summer. Hedgerow planting is a popular measure this year, with funding support from the Woodland Trust through its MOREHedges scheme, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and Puffin Produce and Pembrokeshire Creamery.

We’re excited to be working with dairy farmers, with funding support from Puffin, Pembrokeshire Creamery, and Castell Howell Foods. Funded measures include introducing nitrogen-fixing legumes into grassland and intercropping for forage, both of which aim to reduce the need for synthetic fertilisers and to create a nutrient-dense silage crop that will lessen dependency on bought-in winter feed.

The LENs scheme in Wales has been designed to complement the new Sustainable Farming Scheme, including offering additional soil testing for P, K, Mg, and pH levels to help farmers access the universal baseline payment.

The LENs team will be at the Royal Welsh Show on 21-22 July – please do come and say hello if you are attending.

Scotland

In Scotland, we are finalising measures for Trade 2026. In the Tweed we expect 1200 hectares of measures, including green manures, wildflower strips, and innovative biodiversity monitoring. In the Leven, we anticipate 950 hectares of measures, including riparian planting, cover crops, and demonstration farm visits.

In other news, we will have a stand at the Royal Highland Show, so please come and say hello. We will be putting on an event in collaboration with funders, farmers, and 3Keel. Further details to follow! We are also proceeding with expanding LENs into the Spey and South Esk catchments, working in partnership with Spey Catchment Initiative and South Esk Catchment Partnership.

A big thanks as always to our project partners in Scotland: Forth Rivers Trust, Tweed Forum, Diageo, Northumbrian Water, South of Scotland Enterprise, SSEN, Perth and Kinross Council, and Scottish Borders Council.

Polska/Poland

The LENs programme in Poland continues to support farmers to implement on-farm practice changes to improve the productivity and sustainability of their business. This period has seen a range of opportunities come through to LENs farmers through the call for Trade 2026 proposals, and we have been delighted to see the strong interest from LENs farmers in response.

LENs farmers submitted over 170 project proposals in the trade, highlighting a strong level of interest in adopting, expanding and maintaining sustainable farming techniques. In particular, we saw record levels of biodiversity, habitat creation and Resilience Payment proposals.

Work to finalise the trade is at an advanced stage, which will allow farmers to turn their attention to next year’s cropping season and LENs project implementation.

Magyarország/ Hungary

LENs Hungary is in the final stages of contracting for trade 2026, following a strong suite of proposals by farmers. Big winners of the trade were cover crops, with a record level of proposals, as well as the steadily increasing uptake of no-till farming.

Alongside their forthcoming LENs project agreement, farmers in Hungary can expect to look forward to a range of in-person knowledge sharing, field visits and training events, which will accompany the start of the new cropping season. The team is busy preparing for the first of these, which will take a practical look at the significant benefits of cover crop implementation in the Hungarian agricultural calendar.

Australia

Interest in LENs is quickly growing as the team, in partnership with Seaoak Consulting and Macka’s Best Australian Angus Beef, continues to set up the first Australian LENs region in the Hunter and Mid-North Coast regions in New South Wales.

With our partners, we have broadcast two webinars to introduce LENs to farmers and potential funding organisations, as well as wide-ranging stakeholder engagement in the region and discussions with interested parties. LENs followed up the webinars with a successful first in-person workshop, hosted at Macka’s Beef’s Woko Station, to ensure the budding LENs programme is aligned with local priorities and complements existing programmes.

The team is now in the process of finalising the participation of interested organisations, which will set the stage for the first LENs farmer funding cycle in Australia.