Research and analysis

Agriculture and rural land management: challenges for the water environment

Impacts of farming on the environment and mechanisms for improvement, plus future challenges and approaches.

• From: Environment Agency
• Published: 22 October 2021
• Last updated: 30 April 2026 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Agriculture and rural land management: challenges for the water environment

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Water quality: what 3 future environmental land management schemes can achieve by 2027

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Details

This report describes:

• the range of pressures caused by farming and their impacts on the water environment
• improvement mechanisms
• measures to control the sources and impacts
• future challenges and proposed approaches

Published 22 October 2021

Last updated 30 April 2026 + show all updates

1. 30 April 2026

   Corrected the number of farm inspections in section 3.1: 'Between April 2022 and March 2025, Environment Agency officers carried out 12,805 inspections of non-permitted farms'. In figure 6, the number of inspections for 2024 to 2025 has been amended to 4,540.

2. 20 November 2025

   Replaced the report with 'Agriculture in England: significant water management issues'.

3. 7 April 2022

   Added an attachment: 'Water quality: what 3 future environmental land management schemes can achieve by 2027'. Updated the 'challenges' document to link to this.

4. 22 October 2021

   First published.