Water Protection Bread is an initiative that incentivises farmers to use less fertiliser in their wheat production, which ultimately contributes to groundwater protection by reducing the risk of nitrates entering drinking water wells. The wheat they produce is processed and baked separately, with the bread produced in bakeries across the region then sold as ‘water protection bread’. Water companies may choose to compensate farmers for the production of this wheat which has a slightly lower protein content and hence is less suitable for conventional bread baking.