England’s farmers to get new payments for cleaning up waterways

Cows on farmland next to the River Axe in Devon. The sustainable farming incentive, which pays farmers to look after the environment, was frozen this year. Photograph: Savo Ilic/Alamy

Farmers in England will get new payments for cleaning up the waterways near their land, the environment secretary has said.

Agricultural pollution affects 40% of Britain’s lakes and rivers, as fertiliser and animal waste washes off the land into waterways.