Mega-farm fears if huge dairy approved

The Soil Association has launched a campaign against large scale farming which it says threatens the landscape, farming and rural communities.

A farmer who wants to build a 1,000-cow dairy unit in Wales expects to find out during the next month whether he will be granted permission.

Fraser Jones applied to Powys County Council for permission to create the 'superfarm' at Lower Leighton Farm, near Welshpool. When permission was refused, Mr Jones appealed with the outcome of the public inquiry expected at the end of May or early June.

Other mega-farm plans include a 25,000 pig farm in Derbyshire and one of the biggest salmon farms in the world at Galway Bay in Ireland.

Farmers say the introduction of modern facilities offers a solution to Britain's appetite for cheap meat by increasing production while maintaining or improving animal welfare standards and without affecting the environment.

But Lord Melchett, the Soil Association's director of policy, said: "The solution is not to create huge intensive operations that threaten our landscape, farming and rural communities.

"Large-scale industrial farms may be able to produce food a little more cheaply in the short term, mostly through reducing the number and cost of people employed. But we will end up paying a high price for what may be marginally cheaper food."

Mr Jones wants to triple the capacity of his farm near Welshpool. His opponents insist the scheme's approval will open the way for similar farms across the UK.

Carol Lever, of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said: "The importance of this decision should not be underestimated. If we allow this industrial dairy to go ahead, it could potentially change farming and the countryside for ever."

But Mr Jones has defended the plan, saying: "We have gone to great lengths to address people's concerns. The cows, which would be inside for 250 days a year, would be continually monitored and the dairy would promote good animal welfare."

A petition against the pig farm in Derbyshire has collected more than 25,000 signatures and attracted the support of actors Sir Roger Moore and Dominic West as well as the TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Sir Roger has described large-scale farms as "concentration camps for animals".

Midland Pig Producers, the company behind the proposal in Foston, Derbyshire, said that it had worked exhaustively to ensure it meets all the concerns.