The huge intensive farms, in which as many as 1.7 million animals may be kept on a single holding, are an increasingly common, but controversial, feature of UK agriculture. Chickens have become the focus of concerns over the effects of Brexit, with a row over whether the UK should import chlorinated chicken from the US, and chicken farming is likely to be the first to expand. But in the densely populated UK, there is less space for such large developments and inevitably people will be affected. People living near such facilities have complained of overpowering smells, noise and heavy traffic on small rural roads, while researchers have found evidence of superbugs in the vicinity of intensive farms. Early concerns over the impact of Brexit on British farming centred on the issue of subsidies, worth roughly £3bn a year to farmers under the EU’s common agricultural policy.

Source: The Guardian July 28, 2017 12:00 UTC