Farmers cause one-third of pollution

29 January 2001



‘Farmers cause one-third of pollution’

By FWi staff

FARMING is responsible for a third of all major water pollution, according to a BBC radio documentary.

Pesticides have caused some reservoirs to be closed for months and cost the water industry 1 billion in clean-up costs, claims the File on 4 programme.

And soil erosion, together with rich fertilisers which are washed into rivers, is reducing salmon stocks.

This comes weeks after the Daily Express reported that the cost to remove pollution caused by farming stood at 2.3bn a year.

Meanwhile, researchers claim that one of Britains best-loved songbirds has virtually vanished from the countryside, reports the Express.

Songthrushes were simply not in evidence in East Anglian farmland, instead finding refuge in gardens.

The study, by Professor Christopher Mason of Essex University, also reported big decreases in mistle-thrush and blackbird numbers.

Songthrushes have declined by 60% in the past 30 years, while blackbird populations have fallen by 30% over the same period.

File on 4 is on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday (30 January) at 8pm.

• Poor soil management damaging environment, FWi, 05 January, 2001
• 04 August 2000
  Bad farming is cause of pollution, FWi, 04 August, 2000
  
• Daily Express 29 January, 2001 page 28