Farming Today - 31/08/2009

Anne-Marie Bullock visits the Cain Valley in Montgomeryshire to see how farmer Peter Lewis has improved the water quality of the River Cain and how it has improved life on his farm. Just one drop of organophosphate sheep dip could kill off the insects in a kilometre of river. Farmers can face prosecution for careless pollution of rivers, but now the Environment Agency is trying to work alongside farmers to help prevent the build-up of 'diffuse pollution' such as slurry and silage being washed into streams. A build-up of contaminants along a valley can also have an impact on life in the streams.