I had a sobering conversation with a farm advisor recently who gave a stark assessment of pollution from farms, and in particular Welsh livestock farms. This was particularly striking because this person is a natural supporter of farming (i.e. no axe to grind) but also has a very, very deep insight into farms across England, Scotland and Wales and how they operate. They said that the level of water pollution they are seeing in Welsh farms is shocking. In their words the farmers they are seeing are "10-15 years behind England" and do not have the support mechanisms to help them improve. They said they have farms putting slurry out on fields with P indices of 5 who will probably have to sell up / lose the livestock. Talks to farmers with obvious and serious slurry pollution into watercourses leading to very sensitive rivers who are simply not alive to the damage they are causing. They painted a pretty depressing picture of very isolated businesses with families really struggling on the edge, and with a mentality that has not really changed since the days of their great grandfathers with either an inability or unwillingness to change. They said the farmers in England are very lucky to have what they do have and painted a fairly bleak picture of the support available in Wales.