Pollution from pig and poultry farming is 'harming nature'

POLLUTION from the “huge” pig and poultry farming sectors is harming rivers, the wider landscape and nature, a report from the Wildlife Trusts warns.

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The findings from the report into the environmental impact of the sectors reveal the waste from producing millions of pigs and billions of birds and eggs a year is about 10.4 million cubic metres annually - the equivalent to 4,160 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The high levels of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, in the manure make it hard to use it on farmland sustainably, and cause pollution in habitats including rivers which harms water quality and the wildlife that lives in the freshwater environment.

The situation is particularly acute in the “hotspots” where poultry and pig production are concentrated, the report warns.