Various agencies , various agencies agree about the various harms to water courses of animal agriculture
"Farming This is now the biggest cause of river pollution in the UK There are various reasons, including soil erosion, fertilisers and pesticides, but the most intense and extreme cause, especially in the west of Britain, is industrial livestock units.”
🔗 Source: River pollution leads to Welsh demand for halt to intensive chicken farms
The Environment Agency
The Environment Agency was established in 1996 to protect and improve the environment. There are around 10,600 employees. The EA is an executive, non departmental public body, sponsored by Defra
The Environment Agency has stated “Unfortunately farming is still one of the biggest sources of pollution incidents and a major reason why 40 of our rivers and groundwaters still need improving In 2018 farming activities caused 77 serious incidences of pollution in our waterways This damages water, land, soil and ecosystems The most serious pollution incidents result from slurry and silage effluent In a recent detailed investigation of one catchment we found that 95% of dairy farms failed to meet water protection standards and half of those were actually causing pollution into the river at the time of our visit. Most weeks we are called to deal with at least one serious pollution incident arising from farms”
🔗 Source: The vital role of farmers in protecting the environment
The Wildlife Trust
The River Wye (right) is in crisis and life in its waters is silently slipping away. Phosphate-rich runoff from chicken farming is causing the spread of algal blooms that are devastating the river’s ecosystem. If this continues, the Wye will be devastated.
🔗 Source: Start with the Wye
So many different kinds of harm all from factory farming
“Nearly 70 per cent of land in England is used for agriculture Rural land management and agriculture are major sources of pollutants in our rivers and water environment This is one of the most significant influences on water quality and water dependent ecosystems The main pollutants from farming are nutrients (phosphorus and nitrates), chemicals including pesticides, veterinary medicines, and emerging chemicals (such as organic chemicals and anti microbial resistance found in materials spread to land) faecal bacteria and pathogens (all livestock farming and some off farm wastes are sources further information is available in the faecal and sanitary narrative) soil sediment (both arable and livestock farming are significant sources further information is available in the fine sediment narrative) micro plastics (present in sewage sludge, compost and other organic manures) Pressures and impacts on water quality caused by these pollutants include eutrophication, loss of biodiversity, silting of fish spawning grounds, risks to human health via bathing, water contact sports, and drinking waters increased water treatment costs, damage to fisheries, tourism and recreation damage to shell fisheries”
“Since 2006 pollution incident data as a rolling 5 year average when adjusted to take account of the number of active registered dairy farms in England, has increased This has occurred over a period when the number of dairy farms has decreased by over 4 000 the average herd size has increased by 40 and the average milk yield per cow has increased by up to 1 000 litres. More cows and a higher milk yield both lead to an increase in the amount of slurry produced, which needs to be stored Research by the Environment Agency and the NFU, suggests that dairy farms have a slurry storage capacity less than 50 per cent of the legal minimum. Other livestock farms were also found in EA research to have a similar storage concern”
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