Livestock and poultry farming generates huge quantities of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute towards climate change. The companies operating UK ‘megafarms’ are routinely failing to disclose the amount of pollution they will create in planning applications to local councils, however, masking their real impacts of their expansion, shows new research.
Carbon and other emissions assessments are not being included in many planning applications for new large-scale livestock farms, according to research by the food and farming advocacy organisation Sustain. Moreover, local councils, which either approve or reject the applications, are not demanding them.
Sustain analysed all the applications for livestock units over a certain threshold (more than 85,000 broiler chickens or 3,000 pigs) in seven regions of the UK, including East Anglia, Yorkshire, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Under rules established in 2017 – and confirmed by a court judgement in 2024 – all of them should have quantified the extent of the emissions resulting from all aspects of the developments, including the production of feed, transport and manure disposal.
None of the applications examined included these necessary calculations. According to Sustain, if all are approved they will result in the release of greenhouse gases equivalent to 634,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is more than 1% of the total annual emissions from agriculture of nearly 48 million tonnes.
Sustain campaign manager Ruth Westcott says a small number of large agri-food businesses are the companies behind the vast majority of megafarms in the UK. With yields and revenue from traditional farming becoming more uncertain, she understands why many farmers turn to this model, as it offers a more secure income. “It's clear that agribusinesses don't want to come clean about the pollution they cause because it could affect whether they are allowed to expand, and thus make more profits at the expense of our communities.”
But not only do they have a huge impact in terms of global warming, they also provide few benefits to the local community. “They’re not creating jobs for local people,” Westcott argues. “More and more of these chicken sheds means fewer and fewer workers because the whole process is industrialised.” These megafarms also lead to a huge increase in heavy goods traffic and air pollution as a result of ammonia fumes from the manure.
The scale of these farms is growing fast. A Compassion in World Farming report in 2024 showed the number in the UK had increased from 974 in 2016 to 1,176 in 2023, a rise of 20% in seven years.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) declined to say whether it had any plans to intervene in the issue or compel companies to disclose emissions assessments. “As part of securing planning permission, applicants must carry out an environment impact assessment where necessary, and these are subject to public consultation,” it said in a statement.
Top image: Poultry farm in England. Credit: Getty
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