Poultry producers to receive £35m for manure management

The announcement, as part of a government initiative to “preserve” the river, also includes the establishment of a new river champion, the creation of a taskforce aimed at preserving and protecting the long-term health of the river, and measures to immediately halt further pollution.

The river and its tributaries have been increasingly degraded in recent years due to phosphorous pollution stemming from a large rise in the number of poultry farms.

Farming Minister Mark Spencer accepted the river faces real challenges, but said the government was determined to restore the important landscape and ensure it was better protected for future generations. “Our plan will dramatically reduce the amount of nutrients entering the river, mostly by helping farmers transition to more sustainable practices. This will include providing up to £35 million for on-farm poultry litter combustors and trialling the use of emerging technology to help farmers share organic nutrients with their neighbours.”

The new river champion is MEP Anthea McIntyre, who said she would collaborate with all interested parties in the local Catchment Partnership and citizen scientists to ensure the river was restored and protected.

Both Natural England and the Environment Agency welcomed the announcement. Marc Lidderth, EA area director, said the introduction of the wide-ranging plan would help the agency to capitalise on its work already underway with partners, local farmers and environmental groups to tackle the decline in water quality in the catchment.

Emma Johnson, Natural England regional deputy director, said a healthy and thriving River Wye and catchment was key to recovering nature in Herefordshire, which would benefit wildlife and people.

Legal claim

Last month, law firm Leigh Day launched a legal claim potentially worth hundreds of millions of pounds in a bid to compensate thousands of people living in the Wye catchment area. The claim will be brought against Avara Foods Ltd, one of the UK’s biggest food producers, alleging that industrial scale poultry farming in the catchment area is polluting the River Wye and the surrounding land.

Avara Foods, which supplies the UK’s largest supermarket Tesco, has said that it will cease polluting the river in the future but Leigh Day will argue that Avara is responsible for the damage that has already been caused and should clean up the River Wye and surrounding land, as well as pay hundreds of millions of pounds to people and businesses impacted by the effects of pollution.

In February, Avara Foods said that manure from Avara farms was not available for purchase as fertilise within the catchment and was instead being exported. All Avara farms intending to use their poultry manure or digestate, as fertiliser, will begin the audit processes under the new soil assurance standard that the company is piloting for Red Tractor. It said that from January, 74% of Avara manure is being exported and 26% is remaining under the higher assurance pilot. That means around 2,000t of manure is being exported each week.