Rivers in Norfolk at risk of becoming 'dead zones depleted of wildlife' due to chicken pollution
A petition is calling for a UK-wide ban on new intensive poultry units and support for farmers
Last updated 12th Mar 2024
A new Soil Association report claims 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 it.
The charity also says the industrial chicken meat sector 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.
Its 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 Norfolk near the rivers Thet and Wissey, as well as in Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Herefordshire and Powys.
Now, the Soil Association has launched a petition calling for a UK-wide ban on new intensive poultry units.
What's the public opinion?
A recent poll showed that 80% of people in the UK underestimate the scale of industrial chicken farming. Just one in five realise more than 90% of chickens reared for meat are factory farmed.
Meanwhile, 75% say they would be willing to eat less chicken if it meant cleaner UK rivers and less environmental destruction overseas.
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."
Each unit deals with thousands of tonnes of waste from tens of thousands of birds around every six to eight weeks.
Across England and Wales, the majority has been spread on land near the units, and Lancaster University research suggests that excess phosphorus in agricultural soils in the Wye catchment could provide 20 years of fertiliser without further input.
Avara – one of the few processors who dominate the sector – has announced plans to mitigate damage to the Wye by transporting waste out of the catchment.
But Soil Association Campaign Advisor Cathy Cliff, author of the report, said it is “simply impossible” to sustainably manage the sheer number of chickens and the muck they are producing."