Land Use Policy Does Not Support Factory Farming, Defra Confirms
In a blow to the industrial chicken farming industry, the government has clarified in the starkest possible terms that its major land use policy does not support factory farming or the intensification of poultry farming.
Under legal pressure from Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF), the government has clarified that there is no support in its Land Use Framework for any growth plan to encourage intensive factory farming of poultry.
The government’s concession means that no public body can now rely on the Land Use Framework as a policy that supports the expansion of intensive chicken farming or factory farming.
The government has clarified that its flagship Land Use Framework (LUF) does not support the use or expansion of factory farming or “intensive poultry units”, the large metal chicken sheds holding tens of thousands of birds that have increasingly sprung up across the UK countryside.
Published in March 2026, the Land Use Framework is a first-of-its-kind policy that sets the government's vision for how England’s land should be used.
Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) submitted a legal challenge against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) over concerns that the LUF unlawfully expressed support for the intensification and expansion of factory farming. [1]
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs responded by saying the “LUF is not intended to support factory farming or the intensification of poultry farming”.
This is a welcome reassurance given that the proliferation of chicken farms means that 40% of UK cropland is already used for growing animal feed, [2] and waste from 24 million chickens is putting intolerable environmental pressure on the UK’s rivers. [3]
Separately, the Farming and Food Partnership Board (FFPB), a joint industry and government group, pledged to create a “growth plan” for certain sectors, including poultry. Yet, the Secretary of State’s response to CAFF is clear: “Reference to sector growth plans (whether in relation to horticulture or poultry) in no-way suggests or entails ‘growth’ of the type described in the PAP Letter. It does not entail support for factory farming.”
There are a lot of competing pressures on land use given the need to grow food, protect nature, and have adequate housing. The use of land will be a huge issue in the UK over the next 20 to 30 years, particularly as we are trying to progress to net-zero. Therefore, it is significant news that the guiding policy over the next few decades contains no support for factory farming.
This means that no public body can rely on the Land Use Framework as a policy that supports the expansion of intensive chicken farming or factory farming. Local plans, for example, need to be compliant with national policy. This means that if a council adopted a local plan to support the additional building of intensive poultry units citing the Land Use Framework as the basis, this would be unlawful as it in fact would not comply with the Land Use Policy at all.
Councils that are developing their local plans now have a clear steer from the government that the policies for use of land in this country are not intended to support factory farming. Arguments from industry that government policy supports factory farming should now be put to rest.
Maya Pardo, Legal Coordinator at Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF), said:
“We welcome the unequivocal statement by the Secretary of State that land use policy does not support the intensification of the poultry industry or factory farming. This also means that the industry-led future growth plans must take into account the Secretary of State’s clear indication that government policy does not support factory farming or intensive poultry farming.”
“This policy could easily have been misread by planners, councils, and officials as supporting intensive poultry farming, so the government’s clarification that it does not is helpful.
“When the government or public bodies and local authorities are making decisions about how land is used and what industries or types of agriculture to support, we now have central government guidance on the use of land, which clearly states that there is no support for factory farming.
“CAFF has seen dozens and dozens of planning applications for intensive poultry units across the country, and it's important that planning officers and local councils are aware that these are not supported by land use policy. Planning committees evaluating factory farm planning applications should feel empowered to reject these on lawful grounds, as they are unsustainable developments and are not backed by government policy.
“CAFF plans to send a briefing to all local councils in factory farming hotspots, informing them of the government's unequivocal statement that land use policy does not support intensive poultry units or factory farms.
“We urgently need to move away from harmful intensive production methods, and support farmers through a just transition to sustainable agriculture. Expanding the poultry sector would be a catastrophe for our rivers, for local communities and for our nation’s food security. While the industry claims to be supporting food security with its plans for expansion, nothing could be further from the truth – intensive poultry farming is highly resource intensive, polluting, and inefficient. CAFF will continue to hold the government to account if it deviates from its anti-factory farming stance.”
Jan Galpin, a retired teacher who lives near intensive poultry units in Lincolnshire, said:
“In Holbeach St Johns we already have two intensive poultry farms on our doorsteps, and now planning for a third has been submitted. This is deeply concerning for the community, particularly for our residents with breathing difficulties. At shed emptying times we often can’t open windows or hang out washing due to dust and odour.
“Evidence shows these farms have a toxic effect on air quality and waterways, so it is alarming that the government might be considering any policy which would allow more of these environmentally damaging and horrendously inhumane farms rather than fewer.”
ENDS
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About CAFF
Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) works closely with residents across the UK to review planning applications for intensive farms and submit strong, evidence‑based planning objections. The organisation has helped communities block and overturn multiple intensive poultry unit applications when councils overlooked key environmental and animal‑welfare issues.
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