Thousands of farm fixes completed to protect water quality

Nearly half of farm inspections have found breaches of environmental rules over the past five years, despite thousands of improvements being completed to reduce pollution risks, a new Environment Agency report shows.

The regulator has published its first Agriculture Report, giving a national overview of farming’s environmental performance and the outcomes of agricultural regulation.

Over the past five years, Environment Agency officers have carried out more than 19,000 inspections of non-permitted farms to check compliance with water quality rules.

The report shows non-compliance has averaged 48% over that period.

However, the latest year saw a 5% fall compared with the five-year average, which the Environment Agency said was an encouraging sign of improvement.

At the same time, more than 19,000 improvement actions have been completed on farms since April 2021.

These actions were aimed at upgrading farm infrastructure and reducing pollution risk, ranging from minor guttering repairs to full slurry store replacements.

The agency said the figures showed most farmers take environmental protection seriously, but that more work is needed to improve compliance.

The findings come as the Environment Agency prepares to increase farm inspections to 6,000 a year over the next three years, backed by higher government funding.

Dr Jo Nettleton, the Environment Agency’s chief regulator, said agriculture had a “significant and increasing impact” on the water environment.

She said: “Our approach is clear - we will work constructively with those who want to do the right thing, using advice and guidance as our primary tools.

“Where this does not happen, we are increasing our regulatory presence and moving through the sanctions available to us to take strong enforcement action.

“This report shows we are starting to see real progress - but there is more to do to protect our precious water environment.”

The report will now be published annually as part of the Environment Agency’s wider work reviewing the performance and environmental impact of regulated sectors.

The regulator said it remained committed to expanding its farm inspection programme and using technology to target its work more effectively.

This includes the Agricultural Land Environmental Risk and Opportunity Tool, known as ALERT, and remote sensing.

The agency said these tools would help focus inspections on higher-risk sites while reducing the burden on compliant farms.