As a nation, we have been enjoying cheap pig and poultry products for many decades. It’s no surprise that these sectors have become highly specialised, with efficiencies delivered by breeding for yields, ensuring maximum feed to product ratios, and concentrating production around processing facilities such as in the Wye Valley, on the border of England and Wales. 

For many years – without the kind of subsidies other livestock sectors had under the EU Common Agriculture Policy – it benefitted from cheap feeds via cheap soya protein imports and subsidised EU grain feeds. The sectors became ever more intensive and integrated, with production largely owned and directed by an ever-smaller group of large food businesses.  

But all that ‘efficiency’ has come at a major price. Whilst the animal health and welfare and related issues have been explored by others, The Wildlife Trusts wanted to look at the total environmental impacts. This new research particularly explores the pressures for land use, nature’s recovery, and water systems, to get to grips with the problems of scale and concentration.    

Pig and poultry production has wide and deep impacts 

It’s been clear for some time that the sectors have major issues, and our research has shown the magnitude of the problems. 

The scale of pig and poultry production as sectors across the UK is huge, with significant volumes of nutrient outputs generated. The industry generates almost 1 million tonnes of pigmeat and 2 million tonnes of poultry meat every year - breeding, growing and slaughtering in the region of 11 million pigs and 1.1 billion broilers (birds for the table), with an egg laying flock of approximately 40 million. 

Intensive pig and poultry production is highly concentrated in certain counties. Our data shows that there are regional concentrations of pigs and poultry, notably in Yorkshire, East Anglia, Armagh, Mid Ulster, Grampian and in the Welsh borders and South West England. In England, most of the pig population is housed in just five council areas and more than half of England’s chickens are in just 10 council areas.

There is a huge, hidden land take in the production of pigs and poultry, which is significant given the pressures on UK land for other uses. Just to feed UK pigs and poultry requires around 520,000-580,000ha of wheat - equivalent to 34% to 38% of the UK’s total wheat crop. The associated fertiliser and pesticide inputs includes 2,621 tonnes of pesticides on 8.32 million treated hectares, of which 24.4% are fungicides (by weight). The imported soyabean meal uses an estimated 730,000ha of land overseas.  

This places an incredible burden on the environment – not just through the land take, but also due to the vast areas of farmland needed to ‘use’ the nutrients (phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium) contained within the 10 million m³ of excreta generated every year by our pigs and chickens.  

In one single council area, North Yorkshire County Council, the combined volume of excreta from pig and poultry production each year is 1.7 million m³ - enough excrement to fill 675 Olympic swimming pools each year

The knock-on impacts for our soil and rivers are significant. It is no surprise that there is major correlation between the location of pig and poultry units in the UK and the number of waterbodies failing Water Framework Directive (WFD) Regulation targets for nitrogen and phosphorous. 

Additional burdens from pig and poultry production are ammonia emissions, fertilisers and pesticides use, plus the opportunity costs of not using the land for other purposes such as: 

• producing food for people not animals
• nature recovery
• for horticulture to reduce imports and pressure on lowland peat, and
• for wider sustainable infrastructure
   

What needs to happen? 

The sheer scale of concentrated production should leave us with no doubt that action is needed. The UK Government is finalising many strategies, policies, and white papers – from the Land Use Framework and Food Strategy to a 25-Year Farming Roadmap, a Water White Paper and a revised Environmental Improvement Plan.  

These need to address the outsized impact of pigs and poultry in the report. We suggest the following:  

1. Reform existing permitting regimes to cover a broader range of operations and to account for the wider environmental impacts associated with the feed production, excreta and emissions – on and off farm – that new units will be responsible for.
2. Introduce mandatory comprehensive nutrient management action plans clearly detailing nutrient management budgets on farm. This should include end destination and use for excreta transported off-site to ensure sustainable application.
3. A moratorium on new units, and the expansion of existing units, in areas at risk from the resulting pollution
4. A new cross-departmental Government taskforce to identify how the impacts associated with UK concentration of pig and poultry production can be best managed to minimise environmental impacts.
5. Integrate detailed analysis of the land take for crops grown to feed pig and poultry units within a Land Use Framework in England.
6. Ensure supply chains are regulated and incentivised to support farmers to transition to less polluting and more integrated pig and poultry system.  

Read the full report

Read the briefing for policy makers

Impacts of pig & poultry production in the UK

Infographic version