Farming is an important part of food production in the UK and is the foundation of most rural communities. However, some historic farming practices have left contamination in their wake. Underneath the pleasant looking fields may be lurking something much more sinister. It is important to understand why this is the case, so that past mistakes are not repeated, and what can be done about it.

Farmers in the past relied heavily on using lots of types of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides that were chemical based. After the second world war in particular, lots of farming practices started to change as demand increased and this led to using these substances which are now known to be highly toxic.

Many of these have since been banned – DDT for example, or pesticides that were lead based, however the problems that they caused can still be found in the soil. Even fertiliser, when used excessively, can build up in the soil which then causes nitrates to build up and contaminate the soil.

These contaminates can also make their way through the soil where they originate and get into the waterways, which makes it even more important that these places are cleaned up so that they can be safe once again, and are not having a detrimental effect on the environment.

Cleaning up land like this can be a challenge, so it is necessary to get a professional like this https://soilfix.co.uk/services/soil-remediation soil remediation company to do this, as they will be able to identify what pollutants are in the soil and the best way to clean it up.