'Grazing and crops grown for animal feed combined represent 85% of the nation’s total agricultural land footprint ‑ at home and abroad' (WWF, Future of Feed, 2002)

'Almost 4 million hectares of soil are at risk of compaction in England and Wales, affecting soil fertility and our water resources, and increasing the risk of flooding'. (State of Environment Soil Report, 2019)

'UK soils currently store about 10 billion tonnes of carbon, roughly equal to 80 years of annual UK greenhouse gas emissions' (State of Environment Soil Report, 2019)

'Over 2 million hectares of soil are at risk of erosion in England and Wales' (State of Environment Soil Report, 2019)

An estimated 3.9 million hectares of agricultural land are at risk of compaction in England and Wales, this risk is highest on clay soils during wet periods. The estimated total cost of compaction is £472 million per year (figure 3), nearly 3 times greater than that of erosion, reflecting its greater presence in the landscape (The total costs of soil degradation in England and Wales) as cited in (State of Environment Soil Report, 2019) .

Intensive agriculture has caused arable soils to lose about 40 to 60% of their organic carbon (State of Environment Soil Report, 2019)

Erosion is regularly exceeding the rate of formation in many areas (ref 21) (State of the Environment soil report, 2019)

About 17% of arable soils in England and Wales show signs of erosion, although 40% are thought to be at risk (ref 12). (State of the Environment soil report, 2019)

Erosion is mainly confined to lighter arable soils on hillslopes and peats in upland areas (ref 12) (State of the Environment soil report, 2019)

Of the 3 identified types of soil erosion (water, wind and removal during harvest) in England and Wales, erosion by water is the most extensive. A bare slope can be eroded
up to 1,000 times faster than one covered in vegetation (ref 24)

In the uplands, overgrazing by sheep and footpath use expose the soil and are believed to cause 75% of the erosion (ref 25) (State of the Environment soil report, 2019)'

'Agricultural intensification has led to an increase in erosion. As fields have been increasing in size, the length of hedgerows has been decreasing. This makes the soil more susceptible to wind and water erosion. Every year England and Wales loses 2.9 million tonnes of topsoil to erosion. The total annual cost of erosion in England and Wales is about £177 million a year (figure 3) (ref 12)' (State of the Environment soil report, 2019)'

Subsidy changes encouraged farmers to grow maize for biofuel. Since early 1990's, land to grow maize has tripled, having negative implications for soil erosion, because maize crop has shallow roots that do not support the soil, and the crops are harvested in late autumn (after which more likely to experience high rainfall during winter). 'Where maize is grown in UK, up to half of river sediment comes from maize fields'. (State of the Environment soil report, 2019)' (ref 12).

est 300,000 hectares are contaminated in the UK (State of Environment Soil Report, 2019)

Regular harvesting of land will cause soil carbon content to decline due to decomposition of organic compounds, and being removed in crops or eroded (ref 59) (State of the Environment: Soils report, 2019)

agriculture largest sector responsible for water polution in England according to (Environmental Agency: State of the Environment - Water quality 2018)

production of animal proteins requires about 100 times more water than producing an equal amount of plant proteins (Pimentel & Pimentel, 2003)'

https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00152.x

From - Hunt, D. T. E.; Dee, A. S.; Oakes, D. B.Updating the estimatesof the source apportionment of N to UK waters. Phase 2; DEFRAreport by WRc plc, 2004. Available at http://www.fwr.org/defrawqd/wqd0002.htm.

Burt, T. P.; Johnes, P. J. Managing water quality in agriculturalcatchments.T. I. Br. Geogr.1997,22(1), 61–68

3/4 of which were in the smallest category (< 20 hectares) (DEFRA)

Stevenson PJ. Industrial livestock production: the twin myths of efficiency and necessity. Compassion in world farming. 2015. https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/7425974/industrial-livestock-production-the-twin-myths-of-efficiency-and-necessity.pdf (accessed 9 Dec 2021