A loophole in pollution legislation allows farmers to pollute rivers by spreading excess manure, an investigation has found, with those acting unlawfully not facing any action in most cases.
The government introduced new farming rules for water in 2018, aimed at cleaning up England’s waterways. However, after lobbying from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), including at least two meetings with ministers, the guidance was watered down.
According to internal guidance revealed by the investigations website openDemocracy, polluting farmers may not even be informed of their rule-breaking.
Some farm businesses pollute waterways by spreading excess animal waste on their land. When it rains, this runs off into local rivers, causing nutrient pollution and in severe cases, ecosystem collapse. Natural England recently downgraded the status of the River Wye, a designated special area of conservation, due to a decline of key species. The decline is due partly to large quantities of manure being washed into the river from nearby farms.
In August 2021, the NFU met Lord Benyon, then the parliamentary undersecretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), to discuss the legislation. Four months later, it attended another meeting, this time with Victoria Prentis MP, then the minister of state for Defra, along with officials from the Environment Agency and the British Egg Industry Council and British Poultry Council, two trade associations representing farmers.
In response to a freedom of information request, Defra refused to release the minutes of this second meeting, claiming policymaking in this area was “still ongoing” and that releasing this information could “risk inhibiting officials from having full, frank and open discussions as part of the process of formulating policy”.
But in written evidence submitted to parliament’s environment, food and rural affairs committee, the NFU said it was decided in this meeting that an Environment Agency team tasked with implementing the legislation would have its terms of reference “rewritten” to “reflect our dialogue”.
The guidance now says: “Where a land manager has acted in accordance with the statutory guidance, we will not inform them that they are non-compliant with the FRfW (farming rules for water).” It allows manure to be spread in direct contradiction with the rules, as long as all “reasonable precautions” are taken to reduce pollution, or in circumstances when reducing manure use is not “reasonably practicable”.
“The regulations have not changed,” the document states, but goes on to say that enforcement action will not usually be taken providing farmers “can demonstrate that they are operating in accordance with the statutory guidance even if they are not compliant with regulation 4(1)(a)(i) and (ii)”.
These specific regulations are in place to limit how much poultry manure can be spread on farmland, ensuring that nutrients “[do] not exceed the soil and crop needs or give rise to a significant risk of agricultural diffuse pollution”.
Charles Watson, the founder and chairperson of River Action UK, said: “That loophole is why the soils are now overloaded several times above and beyond what they can take. It is cause and effect, black and white.
“The River Wye has basically turned into a green pea soup. It smells, and what used to be beautiful clean gravel on the riverbed is covered with green slime. The river is now very close to complete ecological collapse.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “The farming rules for water are one of a number of regulations we use as part of our advice-led regulatory approach with farmers, to protect water quality and nature. If we find pollution or significant risk of pollution occurring we will not hesitate to take further action – evidenced by the enforcement action being taken against 140 farms this financial year.”
The NFU deputy president, Tom Bradshaw, said: “Farmers are working hard, through a range of voluntary measures, to prevent valuable nutrients and soil from contributing to water pollution. We can and want to do more and are working with government, local authorities and regulatory bodies to find solutions to address farming’s impact, so that we can better maintain and protect the health of our rivers.
“With a growing population, there is a clear need for sustainable, affordable and environmentally friendly food. We will continue to work closely with partners and stakeholders across all sectors so that collectively we can drive improvements that benefit water quality in our rivers.”
• This article was amended on 13 July 2023 to refer to England in the headline, rather than the UK.
