Commenting on the announcement by Nocton Dairies Ltd, Emma Hockridge, head of policy at the Soil Association, said: “This is good news, particularly for struggling small and family dairy farmers.
“Already, up to three dairy farmers give up in Britain every day, and the unit was likely to mean yet more small family farms go out of business. Nocton was a potential animal welfare disaster and highlighted the way in which our farming systems have become increasingly divorced from what nature intended. Treating animals as little more than factory commodities raises serious questions about the ethics and the resilience of our present systems for feeding ourselves.
“But this is one down, one to go. There is another planned ‘mega’ farm in Derbyshire – an intensive pig unit for 2,500 mother pigs (sows) and around 20,000 piglets, which will spend all of their lives indoors. We hope that in light of this withdrawal of the Nocton mega-dairy application that Midland Pig Producers will not resubmit their planning application to Derbyshire County Council.”
Source: Soil Association
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