Farming is becoming a cleaner, greener industry, with serious pollution incidents caused by farming down by 35 per cent to the lowest ever level last year, said an Environment Agency report published last week.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is encouraged by figures in the report, which show that the number of serious pollution incidents caused by farming fell by 35 per cent last year to the lowest on record. The report also revealed that there are more than 30,000 entry-level scheme agreements in England, and that more than half of these contain measures protecting soil and water. It was found that in Wales there are nearly 4,000 Tir Cynnal (entry level) agreements to date and the higher-level scheme (Tir Gofal) now covers about one-sixth of Wales.

The report highlights “that agriculture has a big role to play in protecting rivers, lakes and estuaries from diffuse pollution,” and that working with farmers, as a part of catchment sensitive farming initiatives and other schemes, is the best way to get good results for the environment. It goes on to state “the drop in the number of pollution incidents from farming suggests that this is the case”.

“We are pleased the Environment Agency is able to acknowledge the improvements that have been made by the agricultural industry,” said NFU president Peter Kendall. “However the NFU accepts there is still more work to do and schemes such as Environmental Stewardship, the catchment sensitive farming initiative and the voluntary initiative will continue to play a vital role in improving our environmental performance.

“In the past few years farmers have worked hard to make many improvements and they are continuing this work to adapt their businesses to ensure they are as environmentally sustainable as possible. Our farming businesses and our land have a key role to play to keep both our businesses and the wider community sustainable in a changing climate. But, when you look at the way agricultural markets are, it is important farmers are given time to adapt and to react to improve their performance rather than regulating them out of existence.”

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