Conservationists' anger over huge broiler sheds style of farming

A couple renowned for their decades-long battle against deathwatch beetle have condemned a proposal for a large-scale broiler farm as “detrimental to the farming industry”.

Sir James and Lady Halina Graham said Forest Poultry’s plan to build six 126m by 25m poultry houses on land near Underlands Lane, Melmerby, Ripon, raised questions over what should be considered acceptable agricultural practice.

Each poultry house will accommodate about 60,000 birds and will be equipped with modern automated feeding and drinking systems, LPG gas heating, and fan-assisted ventilation.

Forest Poultry said the development would help meet the UK’s growing demand for chicken meat, reduce reliance on imports and improve food security, describing the scheme as having a “compelling and robust economic justification”.

Documents submitted to North Yorkshire Council state the proposed development would operate on a standard broiler production cycle, with birds delivered to the site as day-old chicks and reared within the poultry houses for approximately 38 days. About 30 per cent of the birds would be removed at around day 30, with the remaining birds removed at the end of the cycle on days 37 and 38.

Following depopulation, the buildings would remain empty for about 10 days to allow for cleaning and preparation for the next flock.

During this period, manure would be removed using mechanical loaders and transferred directly into covered vehicles for removal from the site.

The manure would be exported for use as a renewable energy feedstock.

If approved, the site is expected to operate at approximately 7.5 flock cycles a year, producing in the region of 2.7 million birds annually.

However, the proposal has attracted more than 430 objections, including an 18,000-signature petition by animal rights charity PETA.

In a letter of objection to the proposal this week, the 11th baronet of Norton Conyers questioned if the proposed production method “on a massive scale” was acceptable morally.

The couple said the birds were set to be placed in “wholly unnatural conditions”.

They wrote: “They will have no freedom to roam outside the sheds and virtually no room to move around inside them. Their lighting will be wholly artificial and the fans installed to cool the atmosphere will be extremely noisy.

"They will be fed with an unnatural diet, probably imported soya, which will fatten them so quickly that their bodies will fail to develop properly.

"They will have difficulty in walking, and their unnatural lives will be lives of pain. This is not farming, it is industry... This type of food production is detrimental to the farming industry.

"Is the production on the intended scale which is likely to result in CO2 and ammonia emissions 1,000 times higher than the 10 hectares of arable land involved would produce if farmed normally acceptable? This is an extreme contrast and a clear divergence from national, regional and local ambitions.”