VideoPigs in cages.. Credit: Narong Khueankaew
A Norfolk MP has called for action to halt the industrialisation of UK farming and issued a stark warning about the devastating environmental and public health impact of the UK’s growing mega-farm industry. In a speech to Parliament 13 March, Terry Jermy MP paid tribute to the sustainable and nature-friendly farmers in his constituency and warned of a rise in intensive livestock facilities.
Mr Jermy called on the government to prioritise sustainable farming, warning that the growth in intensive livestock operations in Norfolk was harming the local community and wildlife, as well as causing climate change, water and air pollution. The number of intensive livestock facilities has risen by 20% in UK since 2016, despite mounting evidence of environmental degradation, harm to human health and poor animal welfare.
Norfolk, now dubbed the “mega-farm capital of Europe”, is home to many of the UK’s largest factory farms. A decision on an application for what could be one of the largest mega-farms in Western Europe is expected to be delivered by Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council early next month.
In partnership with Feedback, Sustain has been supporting local communities to oppose applications for a 14,000 pig and 714,000 poultry unit in the villages of Thetford and Methwold in Norfolk. The application has been overwhelmingly rejected by residents and campaigners alike, with over 15,000 objections lodged on the council’s planning portal.
Legal experts have advised Sustain and Feedback that the council have acted unlawfully by not requiring Cranswick, the business behind the application, to provide a full greenhouse gas assessment. Cranswick, a powerful stronghold on East Anglia’s agricultural landscape, has a poor record on the environment – a recent investigation by Sustain and Feedback showed nearly 100 environmental breaches by the company since 2017.
Despite public outcry, Cranswick are aiming to "defy precedent" in the council's planning meeting next month, insisting their application is both sustainable and necessary to strengthen Britain’s food security.
In an interview with Pig World this week, a Cranswick spokesperson said:
"The whole thing has been designed with pig welfare, environmental sustainability and pollution control in mind.
The UK needs to produce more food, to a higher welfare standard, and reduce reliance on imported products. To support this, more investment in farms across the country will be required."
Residents and campaigners have queried Cranswick's committments to high standards of animal welfare after an investigation by journalists from The Ecologist last year uncovered shocking levels of 'squalor and animal suffering' in Cranswick pig farms. Critics have called into question the necessity for expansion, citing evidence that the environmental impact of import-dependant livestock systems have been identified as a risk to UK food security.
The proposal also comes as the UK’s Climate Change Committee recently pressed for a 35% reduction in meat consumption by 2050 to meet national climate goals.
Lily O’Mara, Climate Justice Campaigner at Sustain says:
"Sustain echoes Terry Jermy’s call for a sustainable, guardianship-based future for UK agriculture. The UK’s mega-farm bullies have repeatedly prioritised profit over Britain’s farmers, rivers, air, and landscapes.
We urge King's Lynn and West Norfolk Council to put rural communities ahead of the interests of agribusiness shareholders and reject this application on climate grounds. But let us be clear: this is an epidemic that is larger than one farm and we will fight these industrial-scale units wherever they appear. There is no place for factory farms in the UK’s food future."
The full transcript can be read here:
"For my constituency of Southwest Norfolk, farming is the lifeblood of our local communities. I recognise that farmers so often are the guardians of the countryside and our natural heritage.
Farmers like Richard Evans in my constituency, a brilliant sheep farmer at Ling, whom I met earlier this year, are leading voices in the Breckland Farmers Wildlife Network. That network is a farmer-led group collaborating in support of farming and the environment. With 52 members covering 44,000 hectares of farmland in the Brecks, they recognise that they are not only custodians of very important land for agriculture and food production but also home to a wide variety of species, many of which are found nowhere else in the UK.
On my visit with Richard, I was joined by representatives from the Norfolk Rivers Trust to talk about how we can work together to support our rivers locally, including rare chalk streams. Farming has a significant impact on our waterways.
But in order for farmers such as Richard to continue their excellent work, we must move towards a future for farming that prioritises farms like this. We cannot allow mega farms to dominate the industry and the landscape. A Compassion in World Farming study showed that there are more than 1,000 large intensive pig and poultry farms across the UK - a 20% increase since 2016. Norfolk has sadly been dubbed the mega-farm capital of Europe.
Residents in my constituency are very concerned about the increasing number of intensive farms and how these are contributing to biodiversity loss as well as climate change, air, and water pollution. Very often, such farming practices adversely affect people living nearby, especially because of the health hazard posed by ammonia.
We have a further proposed mega farm to be built in my constituency at Methwold. If approved on the 3rd of April, it would become one of the largest in Europe. That application has received over 15,000 objections, including from all local parish councils nearby, as well as the Worldwide Fund for Nature and Compassion in World Farming. If the council were to make a decision early next month, it would be a disaster. And as I have said, no ifs, no buts, this cannot be allowed to proceed. This is not farming; it is industrialisation.
I also wanted to make reference to our County Farms Estate in Norfolk, something that I am particularly passionate about. Once holding a mighty 30,000 acres, it now sits at 16,000, which still makes it one of the largest council-owned farming estates in the country. I recently met with Richard and Danielle Gott at their farm in Nordelf, in my constituency. They have been successfully farming the land there for 26 years.
We need to support farmers like Richard and Danielle and the next generation of farmers, such as their daughters Emma and Jessica. It is highly likely that with devolution, the existing governance model will change. We need to give priority to entry-level farming as we move towards farming in the future."
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
