29/10/2018

Concerns Raised Over Large-Scale Pig Farms

Environmentalists in Northern Ireland have launched a campaign objecting to large-scale pig farms.

Friends of the Earth, a large campaigning community, is worried about the potential emissions from such farms and the creation of large amounts of slurry.

Some of the proposed developments in the 'Going for Growth' strategy, which are either in the planning stages or under construction, have the potential to produce between 60,000 and 70,000 pigs a year.

The developers say the pigs will be in high-welfare units with mitigation measures to reduce their impact on the environment.

The environmental organisation launched a film over the weekend that sets out it's opposition, and has called for people to have the right to lodge their objections, known as a third party right of appeal.

The documentary raises concerns about a 2013 Stormont Executive plan to increase agricultural production.

Several MLAs have voiced their support for the developments, including the SDLP's John Dallat and Alliance's Stewart Dickson.

Former health and environment minister Edwin Poots said the strategy would sustain agriculture in Northern Ireland and help it to remain competitive.

The film disagrees, however, and claims that the 'Going for Growth' strategy encourages a move towards more intensive systems of production with a much bigger impact on air and water quality.



(JG/MH)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

08 December 2008
Pig Cull As Food Scare Crisis Probed
An investigation is underway in the Irish Republic as an estimated 100,000 Irish pigs face culling in the wake of the country's biggest food scare since BSE. Gardaí have now been called in to investigate how pigmeat came to be contaminated by potentially harmful dioxins, known as PCBs.
01 August 2023
Everun Recognised For 'Exceptional Performance' Managing Irish Wind Farms
Everun, the Belfast-based renewables firm, has achieved exceptional performance as the latest provider of Service and Maintenance (S&M) services for ScottishPower Renewables' wind farms across Ireland.
09 May 2012
Corporate Manslaughter Conviction First
JMW Farms Limited (Co. Armagh) was fined a record £187,500, plus £13,000 costs, at Belfast's Laganside Crown Court for health and safety failings that led to the death of 45-year-old employee Robert Wilson. The company is the first in Northern Ireland to be convicted under new Corporate Manslaughter legislation.
03 July 2023
Travellers Reminded Of Import Restrictions
Anyone travelling abroad this summer has been reminded to not bring any animal or plant products back into Northern Ireland. Issuing the reminder, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said that imports of meat or meat products, milk and other dairy products are banned from most countries outside the EU.
18 April 2008
Farmers Facing Financial Failure
While farmers may be famed for fearing the worst on a variety of commercial issues - it has been claimed that a shock tax ruling could wipe out many traditional Ulster farms within a generation.