Rivers contaminated by livestock farming on a massive scale throughout the year, with each incident occurring 300 times.
The UK dairy industry has come under scrutiny for its environmental impact, with contamination incidents linked to half of all ranch contamination, according to recent reports.
The Environment Company, responsible for monitoring agricultural practices, has revealed that more than half of the inspections conducted last year found farmers were breaking the policies governing slurry storage. Slurry, a mix of manure and water, is a major environmental hazard to rivers from farming.
Persistent offenders may face prosecution as a last resort, according to the federal government. Major contamination incidents, however, can lead to legal action. In June 2021, Michael Aylesbury, a director of Cross Keys Farms Ltd, was fined over £25,000 for contaminating the River Frome in Somerset with slurry in 2020. He had been prosecuted before for polluting the same stretch of the Frome in 2016, a case that killed over 1,700 fish.
In contrast, just 6 farms were prosecuted in 2021, with the Atmosphere Firm providing advising letters instead. The Environment Company admits that court action is used as "a last resort when there is relentless non-compliance".
The focus of the Environment Company is on "risky areas, formerly non-compliant organizations, and those farming sectors of greatest concern". Since April 2021, they have released at least 140 warning letters and required 6,169 improvement actions on farms, with 2,791 completed.
In an effort to reduce water contamination, Defra has increased the financing for its Catchment Sensitive Farming program, which provides free advice to farmers to help them better manage manure and soils. Defra also made available a £13m slurry storage grant for farmers to improve their storage earlier this year.
Arla, the UK's largest dairy company, is currently paying its farmers to operate in more environmentally-friendly ways. Kate Hoare, a farmer near Saltash in Cornwall, is one such example, having installed one of the UK's first protected slurry lagoons to capture methane for tractor power.
However, concerns about the environmental hazards presented by milk farming and the slurry it produces persist. Nick Measham, the president of Wildfish, a freshwater fish preservation group, is suing the government over public utility pumping sewer in rivers and seas.
The NFU welcomed the financing and stated that farmers had already made a 75% reduction in significant pollution incidents year-on-year compared to 2000. Despite this, last year, animals ranches in England contaminated rivers 300 times, creating 20 significant occurrences.
There are no publicly available or cited details identifying the three largest dairy farms in England that were legally prosecuted in 2021 specifically for environmental pollution caused by cattle manure. The Environment Company is working "constructively" with farmers to reduce water contamination and has increased the number of evaluations to over 3,000 since January this year.
In conclusion, while progress is being made in reducing environmental pollution from the dairy industry, it remains a significant concern. The focus on constructive engagement with farmers, increased funding for environmental programs, and incentives for more sustainable farming practices are all steps in the right direction. However, more needs to be done to address the persistent offenders and prevent major contamination incidents.
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