The poultry industry is planning a major expansion of factory farms across England, creating new hotspots for air and river pollution.
A joint investigation by The i Paper and investigative journalism outlet Grilled has found there are plans to build at least 600 new chicken sheds in response to new supermarket welfare standards.
Many of the new poultry farms will be large “megafarms” with the capacity to hold over 200,000 chickens at any one time.
Intensive chicken farming has been associated with toxic air and river pollution, most notably around the River Wye catchment area. Many of the new applications are centered around Lincolnshire.
Residents there told The i Paper they were concerned about the health impacts of living next to these polluting units while environmental campaigners said chicken farming was “suffocating” local rivers.
Chicken farms to increase by 20 per cent
A coalition of animal welfare charities has challenged supermarkets and restaurants to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment, a voluntary pledge that requires producers to reduce stocking density from from 38 to 30 kilograms per square metre, among other things.
This is roughly the difference between 17 and 14 chickens per square metre.
Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have signed the pledge, while other supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury’s have agreed to lower stocking density. They have not signed the pledge due to its demand to switch from fast-growing breeds, known as frankenchickens.
Restaurant chains including Nando’s, KFC and Pret a Manger previously signed up, but withdrew earlier this year due to demand to stop using fast-growing breeds.
However, the industry insists the voluntary welfare pledge is the driver behind a mass expansion of the number of chicken farms across the country. Existing farms will lose around 20 per cent of their capacity, meaning more farms will be needed to house the same number of chickens.
Analysis of planning registers has identified 14 applications for new farms making this argument, which together would increase production capacity for 17 million more chickens per year.
These applications repeat predictions that the UK will need 21 per cent more poultry houses to maintain production at current levels. One states that the welfare commitments mean 600 new poultry houses will be needed nationally.
However, environmental and animal rights groups believe the BCC is being used as an excuse to expand the industry.
“Some planning applications use the BCC as a reason for more sheds, while the companies behind the applications fail to commit to delivering on all the BCC welfare requirements,” said Anthony Field, Head of Compassion in World Farming UK, which helped develop the pledge.
Richard Griffith, Chief Executive of the British Poultry Council, said the industry’s move to lower stocking densities “was the biggest welfare-focused voluntary change over the last 30 years”, which will result in existing farms losing around 20 per cent of capacity.
But with consumer demand for chicken growing – leading to an increase in imported meat – new and expanded sites are needed, he said.
Lincolnshire becomes ‘megafarm hotspot’
Some parts of the UK are seeing a high volume of applications for chicken megafarms, which can bring a raft of problems for local residents.
The Wye Valley, along the England-Wales border, has become a symbol of the impact of industrial chicken farming, with campaigners blaming the poultry industry for the poor state of the River Wye.
This is because excess chicken manure has been spread on local fields as fertiliser, which then runs off into the river during periods of rainfall, leading to high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen and bacteria that cause toxic algal blooms.
A recent report from the Environment Agency found the expansion of intensive poultry farming “has added an additional source of nutrient input, particularly in the form of manure”.
Now a high volume of applications are being submitted on the other side of the country, most notably Lincolnshire. The county is already a major agricultural hub, but locals say there has been a gradual shift towards more factory farming.
There are currently 13 active known applications in the county for “intensive poultry units”, which hold at least 40,000 birds, according to the group Communities Against Factory Farming. Many of these are large megafarms that could slaughter over one million birds per year.
Jen Davey, who is campaigning against a new megafarm next to the historic market town of Wragby, said locals are worried about the health impacts of living in the vicinity of so many chicken farms.
Wragby residents meet to campaign against a new local megafarm (Photo: Supplied)Research earlier this year by Compassion in World Farming recorded spikes in ammonia pollution surrounding regions associated with intensive farming, including Lincolnshire, Herefordshire and Norfolk.
Ammonia is emitted from animal waste and is linked with health problems including asthma, heart disease and chronic lung conditions.
Davey’s parents own an organic farm, with a 150-year old orchard, less than a kilometer away from the proposed site in Wragby.
“Everything about our life and work is put in jeopardy by this proposal, as any pollutants from the units would be carried on the prevailing winds directly to our property. We fear for our health, our wellbeing and the likely impact on delicate ecosystems,” Jen’s father, Ivor Davey, said.
Ivor and Pam Davey working in their organic smallholding next to a proposed new chicken farm (Photo: Supplied)In Spalding, over 40 miles south of Wragby, campaigner Kev Bunn said residents cannot use their garden or open their windows when the sheds in a nearby chicken farm are cleaned out every seven weeks. He says it leaves their eyes stinging while some suffer breathing issues.
Bunn is concerned that new farms say they will comply with the BCC but then change their mind because it is voluntary.
Kev Bunn campaigning against factory farms with residents (Photo: Supplied)Fears over river pollution
Rachel Butler, CEO of the East Mercia Rivers Trust, said there were concerns about the impact the boom in chicken farming is having on local waterways, particularly the River Witham.
“Manure is a valuable fertiliser, but at industrial scale, nutrient loads can exceed what the land can absorb, and the surplus ends up in rivers and groundwater,” Butler explained.
“That excess nitrogen and phosphorus fuels algal blooms, stripping oxygen from the water, which suffocates fish and harms the wider aquatic habitat.”
She said excess manure was not just “degrading the environment, but threatening the safety and quality of our drinking water and pushing up the cost of treating it to safe standards”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it “welcomed the shift from some poultry farmers’ towards lower stocking density and wider efforts to reduce reliance on fast growing breeds.
“We understand these factors drive a need for more poultry sheds and we are working closely with industry to manage the risks to the environment and local communities.”
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