About one year after U.K. poultry company Avara Foods announced its continued efforts to minimize pollution, which includes the removal from manure from the River Wye Catchment.
Avara Foods published its Sustainable Poultry Roadmap in January 2023, in which the company set two primary goals. Those were:
- Discontinuing the availability of manure from Avara farms for purchase as a fertilizer within the catchment, but rather “exporting” the manure, effective January 2024.
- Have all Avara farms intending to use manure or digestate as fertilizer to begin the audit process under the new soil assurance standard that Avara is piloting for the Red Tractor scheme, starting from the end of the current restrictions over manure application to the land.
In a progress update made available on the Avara Foods website in February, Avara proclaimed that starting in January 2024, “74% of Avara manure is being exported and 26% is remaining under the higher assurance pilot.”
The estimated total volume of Avara manure for 2024 is 142 tons.
Avara stated it was not “a direct contributor to pollution in the River Wye, because there is no contact between land and manure from (its) farms,” but added that it recognized that if used inappropriately, manure could have a negative impact on the quality of water in the river.
The River Wye is located on the west side of England and travels partially into Wales. Over the past decade, scientists and environmental activists have been calling for action to save the water quality of the river which has been in a steady decline due to phosphate runoff from nearby poultry farms.
Avara Foods formed in late 2017 through a joint venture between Cargill and Faccenda Foods. It quickly emerged as the third-largest poultry company in the U.K., trailing only 2 Sisters Food Group and Moy Park.
