River Wye Pollution

[Pushdyke]

I saw that report on BBC at lunch time they didn't show any outside shots of the chicken sheds, but there was plenty of houses close to the river

 

[Werzle]

Its a load of bo##ocks just trying to stop intensive farming anyway they can, the woman of the wye and chap in his corocle are cranks. The mad world we live in will see the likes of avara move abroad and we will import the chicken which will be produced at a lower standard but it will all be out of sight out of mind. If avara pulls out of hereford it would be a disaster for the local economy , the major house builders blaming phosphates on chicken farming will not need to build any houses or a bypass if they start pushing the major employers out of the county.

 

[SilliamWhale]

I don't see how anyone can deny there is a problem with the Wye.

It is threefold:

Sewage
Chicken Poo
Soil Erosion

none of which should be acceptable

There are also other factors making things worse such as more concrete and drainage systems

 

[Pistonbroke]

Its a load of bo##ocks just trying to stop intensive farming anyway they can, the woman of the wye and chap in his corocle are cranks. The mad world we live in will see the likes of avara move abroad and we will import the chicken which will be produced at a lower standard but it will all be out of sight out of mind. If avara pulls out of hereford it would be a disaster for the local economy , the major house builders blaming phosphates on chicken farming will not need to build any houses or a bypass if they start pushing the major employers out of the county.

As an ADAS bloke doing a manure management report here said years ago, It's easier to clamp on and blame farmers than it is to tell people in the towns that they can't sh!t anymore

 

[ford 7810]

I don't see how anyone can deny there is a problem with the Wye.

It is threefold:

Sewage
Chicken Poo
Soil Erosion

none of which should be acceptable

There are also other factors making things worse such as more concrete and drainage systems

Well its definitely coming from somewhere and is certainly not acceptable like a lot more rivers in this land. if they push agriculture far enough it’ll be either cleaned up or it’s coming from somewhere else,but it will be expensive so are these lawyers going to sue on behalf of the farmers if it’s proved not to be them because if they go out of business they definitely won’t be polluting

 

[texelburger]

Mate of mine tests his water who has poultry sheds and it’s 100% clean. More sewage than anything is my bet

A fisherman tested the Wye in our area during covid.The water was always clean ,the only time Phosphates increased was when sewage was discharged directly into the river.He originally blamed chickens,he doesn't now and actually apologised to us.
The BBC news article was odd,it showed the river had risen from heavy rain and the article claimed that it was due to pollution from chickens !!!!!!!!!!!
They then showed a picture of an Algae blooms on the river,again from pollution according to them.I can remember Algae blooms happening on a regular basis before there was a chicken farm in the Wye Valley.
Record numbers of coarse fish caught in our area during the last year.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Well its definitely coming from somewhere and is certainly not acceptable like a lot more rivers in this land. if they push agriculture far enough it’ll be either cleaned up or it’s coming from somewhere else,but it will be expensive so are these lawyers going to sue on behalf of the farmers if it’s proved not to be them because if they go out of business they definitely won’t be polluting

I agree. I have often felt with a bit more profitability we could solve pollution issues a lot easier.

Personally I think soil erosion is a hugely ignored issue.

I wouldnt be surprised most of the pollution incidents are from relatively small number of sources

 

[Exfarmer]

I agree. I have often felt with a bit more profitability we could solve pollution issues a lot easier.

Personally I think soil erosion is a hugely ignored issue.

I wouldnt be surprised most of the pollution incidents are from relatively small number of sources

Of course one of the major sources of eroded soil is the river itself cutting new channels which is an entirely natural process but enhanced by the EA’s lack of management. Something which has been practiced certainly since Roman times.
the idiot in the coracle on this mornings tv was talking our of his bottom , any low land river in spate will have heavy soil load and will certainly not be “ gin clear“

 

[Steevo]

I have often felt with a bit more profitability we could solve pollution issues a lot easier.

Exactly this.

Farmers would be only too keen to reinvest their profits back into their farms and equipment if they were able to. More concrete, roofs, machinery, tanks etc.

Would make every farmers life simpler and easier.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I agree. I have often felt with a bit more profitability we could solve pollution issues a lot easier.

Personally I think soil erosion is a hugely ignored issue.

I wouldnt be surprised most of the pollution incidents are from relatively small number of sources

lots of spuds grown in Shropshire/Herefordshire

 

[little_p]

tbf it's probably not the greatest idea to consolidate a nations chicken meat production into a small area. But to address that would mean a conversation about what drives such consolidation, and that conversation would show it isn't the farmers fault and it isn't at the farm level that change is needed.

Chicken meat production isn't concentrated in Herefordshire. Not even close.
Avara slaughter well over 1m birds a week in Hereford, but probably do the same amount in Brackley, Northamptonshire. 2Sisters have various plants dotted around the UK including North Wales. Then there are other players such as Maelor also in North Wales.

 

[Matt]

Why don't they just shift the sh!t in artics to an area that needs the muck ? Surely it's not rocket science and this issue has been making news for a while so they've had time to sort it out. Or is it actually pollution from sewage works and farming is an easy scape goat?

They are now. No muck to be sold. Can use on own land but any surplus has to.be loaded and moved out of area.

 

[delilah]

Chicken meat production isn't concentrated in Herefordshire. Not even close.
Avara slaughter well over 1m birds a week in Hereford, but probably do the same amount in Brackley, Northamptonshire. 2Sisters have various plants dotted around the UK including North Wales. Then there are other players such as Maelor also in North Wales.

Would be interesting to see how far a chicken travels in today's ultra efficient food system.

 

[onthehoof]

Avara slaughter well over 1m birds a week in Hereford, but probably do the same amount in Brackley, Northamptonshire

And Brackley is at the source of the River Gt Ouse

 

[ford 7810]

Why don't they just shift the sh!t in artics to an area that needs the muck ? Surely it's not rocket science and this issue has been making news for a while so they've had time to sort it out. Or is it actually pollution from sewage works and farming is an easy scape goat?

They are now. No muck to be sold. Can use on own land but any surplus has to.be loaded and moved out of area.

Is chicken waste Made into Fiberphos, but is it chicken muck or dead chickens,

 

[spin cycle]

i don't know why we farmers are so incensed......intensive poultry on that scale is factory agri business.....a world away from most of us.....cheap meat for supermarket profits.....and dairy is heading the same way

blaming sewage is all very well but i don't think ppl realise the punitive rise in water bills needed to achieve this 'clean water holy grail'

the only answer is no more sheds in that area and time to depreciate those there until they close

 

[ford 7810]

i don't know why we farmers are so incensed......intensive poultry on that scale is factory agri business.....a world away from most of us.....cheap meat for supermarket profits.....and dairy is heading the same way

blaming sewage is all very well but i don't think ppl realise the punitive rise in water bills needed to achieve this 'clean water holy grail'

the only answer is no more sheds in that area and time to depreciate those there until they close

I don’t eat chicken by choice I don’t agree with the whole concept of the way chickens are farmed it is factory farming .plus it’s tasteless.

 

[T Hectares]

The processor is making them do that now if they're in a certain distance from the river. My cousin has five sheds in Herefordshire and all the muck goes to Abingdon

The processor is only doing it because they supply Tesco and Tesco made them do it to deflect further negative PR
Tesco having more influence in this situation than the EA, local gov or DEFRA @delilah

There’s around 30,000t of extra muck to ship out in a month or so, lots has come to the arable ground in Glos, Wilts, Oxon, Berks, while our feed wheat is trucked over there to feed them, it makes you mad when Supermarkets want to be seen as oh so responsible and caring for the environment

Still, at least it’s brought the cost of muck back, always a silver lining

 

[Matthew Britton]

Is chicken waste Made into Fiberphos, but is it chicken muck or dead chickens,

If I remember correctly it is chicken muck that has been burned for energy and the ash is then turned into fibrophos.

 

[little_p]

Would be interesting to see how far a chicken travels in today's ultra efficient food system.

Live transport about 35 miles and then in some cases another 50 miles for further processing.
Raw (frozen) meat as far away as Brazil! Shipped into Rotterdam and then an artic to the UK processing plant.