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The Problem

Major Polluters
Dairy farms are responsible for more than 75% of serious pollution incidents in agriculture, which is already the leading source of river pollution.

Widespread Non-Compliance
The majority of UK dairy farms flout critical environmental regulations. When inspected, non-compliance rates soared to 69% in England, 80% in Wales, 50% in Northern Ireland, and 60% in Scotland.

Pricing Pressure
Relentless price cuts from powerful supermarkets are forcing dairy farmers to sidestep environmental standards just to stay afloat.

Red Tractor Failure
Supermarkets cling to the toothless Red Tractor Assurance scheme as a greenwashing tool, while regulators turn a blind eye to enforcement. 

Slurry spreading due to lack of infrastructure © NDPFA

Split in slurry tower © NDPA

Our Solutions

River Action is calling for a number of immediate actions to be taken, which if implemented in full will enable a substantial reduction in the levels of pollution that are emitted by the UK dairy industry.

Big dairy processors must pay fairer prices to farmers who prioritise the planet.

Supermarkets need robust environmental certification schemes—Red Tractor isn’t cutting it!

Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) subsidies must drive real change and reward farmers for going green.

DEFRA and devolved governments must fund better slurry management and recycling tech to slash chemical fertilizer use.

Regulators must crack down on polluters and end the culture of widespread non-compliance.

What We Have Done

In 2024, River Action unveiled The Dairy Report, a groundbreaking publication that shed light on widespread environmental regulation breaches within the dairy industry. By gathering fresh and compelling evidence, the report exposed the alarming scale of pollution stemming from intensive dairy farming practices, particularly their impact on rivers and waterways.

This influential document highlighted key issues, including the failure of farms to comply with manure management rules, unchecked nutrient runoff into rivers, and the absence of robust enforcement mechanisms. The findings underscored the urgent need for stronger oversight, better farming practices, and systemic reforms to prevent further environmental degradation.

River Action’s Dairy Report serves as a wake-up call to policymakers, the agricultural sector, and the public, demanding immediate action to protect the health of our rivers and ecosystems.

For more details, you can explore the full report here.

What We Are Doing

We’ll be exposing the big factory farms polluting our waterways with harmful waste, exploring legal actions to hold the industry and government to account, and demanding that those in power take responsibility for their complacency. Our rivers deserve better than to be sacrificed to the greed of an ever-dirtier dairy industry, and we won’t stop until we see real change. Together, we can protect our precious rivers and hold polluters to account.

"River Action calls for dairy processors to offer incentives to farmers who produce milk responsibly." Source: The Guardian, 2024.

Take Action

If you want to see Britain’s rivers clean and thriving, there are many actions you can take to make a difference.

Rescue Your River

River Action is a small and agile campaigning organisation on a mission to rescue Britain’s rivers from a cocktail of agricultural, sewage and industrial pollution.

River Rescue Kit

Resources

Read the Dairy Report

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