Huge impacts of UK pig and poultry farming revealed for first time - The Wildlife Trusts
New report shows sector’s pollution harms rivers and wider countryside
A new independent report, commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts, has for the first time investigated the cumulative impact of the UK pig and poultry sector on the wider countryside, including the damaging effects of growing the vast feedstocks needed for these animals. The findings reveal the deep impacts of these increasingly intensive industries on water quality and pollution levels.
Key findings include:
- The scale of the UK pig and poultry sector is huge, with intensive production highly concentrated into ‘hotspot’ areas which often mean current regulations are insufficient to manage the potential environmental impacts of these enterprises.
- The waste from pig and poultry production is about 10.4 million cubic metres per year in the UK, equivalent to 4,160 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The high level of nutrients found in this excreta make it hard to use this waste sustainably.
- Over a third of the UK’s total wheat crop is grown for consumption by pigs and poultry. The fertiliser and pesticide use associated with producing a high output of these cheap grains risks more pollution, placing further pressure on UK wildlife.
The majority of England’s pig population is found in just 5 council areas – and just 10 council areas house more than half of England’s chickens. In these places there is a significant risk of large levels of highly concentrated waste accumulating in the environment, including rivers.
If left unabated, such high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous has negative impacts on both water quality and the wildlife that calls these rivers home.
Barnaby Coupe, senior land use policy manager at The Wildlife Trusts says: “Assessment of the environmental impacts of pig and poultry production to date has largely focussed on the immediate risks of slurry pollution, but this research looks for the first time at the wider risks across the whole UK sector – in particular the vast land take for feed production. It’s clear that the significant impacts of pig and poultry production in the UK extend well beyond the intensive farming units themselves, and should leave us in no doubt that further action is needed to address the risks of environmental harms."