Chicken farms risk turning county's rivers into 'dead zones' - see the rivers at risk
Shropshire rivers are at risk of becoming "dead zones" depleted of wildlife if the UK government does not ban new factory chicken farms, according to a new report.
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The county's waterways along with rivers across Herefordshire and Powys are at risk, the Soil Association claims.
Analysis from the food and farming charity has revealed that the British public is blind to the scale and growth of the industrial chicken meat sector, which has been expanding at a rate of one million birds per month since 2014.
Today, it has reached more than a billion birds per year.
The industry is a leading cause of “dead zones” in the River Wye, where the muck from 20 million chickens has contributed to phosphate pollution that causes algal blooms, suffocating plants and starving wildlife that depend on them.
The new Stop Killing Our Rivers report looked at the escalating number of permits for factory chicken farms in England and Wales.
It found units are concentrated in 10 other river catchments including in Shropshire, Herefordshire, Powys, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.
As a result the Soil Association has also launched a petition calling for a UK-wide ban on new intensive poultry units.
This comes alongside a new opinion poll that showed 80 per cent or people in the UK underestimate the scale of industrial chicken farming.
Just one in five realise more than 90 per cent of chickens reared for meat are factory farmed, and only 15 per cent of people are aware that farming is the biggest polluter of UK rivers.
Soil Association Head of Food Policy Rob Percival said: “Few people realise that industrial chicken production might be the most ethically bankrupt and environmentally destructive business in the UK.
"It’s the scale and intensity of production that’s the issue – most people would be shocked to learn that poultry populations have been growing at a rate of one million birds every month for the past ten years. It’s gobsmacking, a horror story that is impossible to sustain.
“The system needs to be completely reformed. Farmers operating these units are often doing so out of financial necessity and need a viable alternative. Urgent government action is needed.
“The poultry industry is like a runaway train – if we don’t act now to put the brakes on industrial production, we’ll see more of our rivers becoming dead zones and facing the same desperate fate as the River Wye. If it can happen in such a protected area, it can happen anywhere. Enough is enough – we need to stop building intensive poultry units, and help farmers to exit this damaging industry.”
Farmers have defended their practices.
NFU Vice President Rachel Hallos said: “British farmers care about water quality in rivers and we want to do more, continuing to work with government, local authorities and regulatory bodies such as the Environment Agency to drive further improvements and better protect the health of our rivers.
“Many people across the country enjoy and rely on nutritious and affordable British chicken as a diet staple. British poultry farmers are committed to meeting that demand by using efficient and sustainable systems while minimising their environmental impact, for example through permitting regimes. To aid this further, we’re calling for poultry farmers to be given access to government schemes such as the Slurry Infrastructure Grant, which would allow manure to be stored securely and used in ways that protect sensitive river catchments.
“Poultry manure is also a valuable source of nutrients and an organic fertiliser which helps sustainably produce the nation’s crops, which is why farmers are working hard through a range of voluntary measures to ensure these nutrients don’t get lost in our waterways.”
Defra said they had set "highly ambitious legally binding targets" to reduce water pollution from agriculture and were providing "significant funding" to farmers to help reduce pollution and agricultural run-off.
A spokesperson added: “More than 4,400 government-funded farm inspections this financial year have resulted in 6,000 actions being taken by farmers to improve farm practices and reduce environmental impacts, especially on our waterways.”
The 10 river areas at risk from the boom of intensive poultry units include:
River Thet, Norfolk
River Wissey, Norfolk
River Severn, Shropshire and Gloucestershire
River Tern, Shropshire
River Roden, Shropshire
River Swale, Yorkshire
River Witham, Lincolnshire
River Frome, Herefordshire
River Arrow, Herefordshire
River Vrnwy, Powys and Shropshire
The Soil Association's petition can be found here: act.soilassociation.org/stop-killing-our-rivers