FWAG, the national Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group was set up by a group of far-sighted enthusiasts in 1969 to encourage farmers to be aware of the need to protect and encourage wildlife, while still farming profitably by providing guidance and advice.

Little did they realise how important FWAG would become four decades later by providing farmers with independent advice on environmental issues.

The interest in FWAG spread and within a few years, most counties had established groups, including Herefordshire, which formed its county FWAG 25 years ago.

In its early days, it shared an adviser with Worcestershire until a full-time adviser was appointed for the county. Currently with around 580 members, Herefordshire has more FWAG members than any other county, with farmer members farming some 16% of the county's agricultural land, and it now has three advisers.

In FWAG's early days, most of the advice given to farmers was how to construct or manage existing ponds, how to manage hedges and how to encourage and preserve wildlife habitats.

But with environmental legislation which farmers now have to abide by, FWAG advice increasingly centres around helping farmers through the bureaucratic minefield.

The Herefordshire group's advisers, as well as making individual on-farm visits, which covered some 210,000 acres in the last year, arrange demonstrations and meetings.

FWAG advisers help farmers to conform to the need to farm within the overarching regulation of maintaining the land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition.

That is one just of the many integral parts of the Cross-Compliance regulations, which unless farmers adhere to, they are likely lose some or all of their Single Farm Payment, so good advice is paramount.

Since the changes in the CAP since 1st January 2005, FWAG advisers have been active in assisting farmers complete their statutory forms, their obligatory Soil Management Plans, which come into force in 2007, and have been helping farmers to apply for the Entry Level and Higher Level Environmental Schemes.

But FWAG will now have to play an increasing role in guiding farmers through the recently introduced Waste Regulations and the EU Water Framework Directive.