Rise in water pollution puts big farms under scrutiny

Ireland’s biggest farmers are facing a crackdown due to official alarm at an increase in water pollution.

Since 1991, the state has given permission to thousands of farmers to stock a higher number of cows on their land so they can ramp up milk production. However, the Department of Agriculture has become alarmed at the impact this exemption is having on water quality, and has set up an urgent review.

Under the EU’s ...