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O ver the last two decades, small- and medium-scale livestock farms have given
way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in tightly
packed facilities. In North Carolina, there were 10.1 million hogs, 13,800 dairy cows
and 46.9 million chickens on the largest operations in 2007, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture. North Carolina ranks second in the
nation in factory-farmed hogs and sixth in factory-farmed broiler chickens.
Since the 1990s, Smithfield Foods has devoured its com- Many contract poultry growers barely break even.10 Poultry
petitors. With the 2000 acquisition of Murphy Farms, growers lost money for 10 of the 15 years between 1995
Smithfield became the largest hog producer in the country. and 2009.11
In 2006, Smithfield purchased the second-largest hog pro-
Factory farms cause extensive environmental damage and
ducer and sixth-largest pork processor, Premium Standard
leave communities with fewer independent family farms,
Farms. After the merger with Premium Standard Farms,
unsafe water, reduced air quality and depressed economies.
Smithfield controlled an estimated 90 percent of the hog
Instead of benefitting, consumers face foodborne illness
market in North Carolina.
outbreaks and public health threats like antibiotic-resistant
The tremendous amount of manure produced on hog bacteria. Consumers also end up with fewer real choices
factory farms is stored in lagoons and applied — often about how their food is produced.
over-applied — to cropland. Smaller hog operations can
Congress, regulatory agencies and state goverments need to
safely apply all the manure to crops as fertilizer, but large
put a stop to the policies that have allowed these facilities
operations produce so much that some has to be shipped
to proliferate. They must create and enforce farm and food
off site.4 The more than 2.2 million hogs on factory farms
policies that allow farmers to make a living and do not
in Duplin County, North Carolina, produce twice as much
harm communities, the environment or public health.
untreated manure as the sewage from the New York City
metropolitan area. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd flooded 50
Take action: Go to www.factoryfarmmap.org to learn more
lagoons and three of them burst, releasing of millions of
about factory farms in North Carolina and to take action to
gallons of manure. Approximately 30,500 hogs, 2.1 million
stop the spread of factory farms.
chickens and 737,000 turkeys drowned.
Poultry Endnotes
1 Carpenter, Dan. “The high price for Earl’s pearls.” Indianapolis Star. February
Chicken meat comes from billions of chickens raised on 10, 2008
2 Key, Nigel and William McBride. USDA ERS. “The changing economics of
large-scale broiler chicken operations where farmers raise U.S. hog production.” ERR-52. December 2007 at 5.
birds on contract for the few poultry processing compa- 3 USDA NASS. 2007 Census of Agriculture. 2009 at Table 20.
4 MacDonald, et al. USDA ERS. “Manure Use for Fertilizer and Energy.” Report
nies that dominate the industry. The scale of poultry farms to Congress. June 2009 at 13.
has grown rapidly, as growers try to eke out a living by 5 Taylor, C. Robert. Auburn University. “The Many Faces of Power in the Food
System.” Presentation at the DOJ/FTC Workshop on Merger Enforcement.
increasing the volume of birds they produce. The number February 17, 2004 at 6.
of factory-farmed broiler chickens more than doubled in 6 MacDonald, James M. USDA ERS. “The Economic Organization of U.S.
Broiler Production.” EIB-38. June 2008 at 13.
North Carolina from 34.7 million in 1997 to 79.7 million 7 American Antitrust Institute’s Transition Report on Competition Policy: Chapter
in 2007. The average-sized operation grew by 20.5 percent 8 Fighting Food Inflation through Competition. 2008 at 304.
8 MacDonald, James M. and William D. McBride. USDA ERS. “The Transforma-
from 126,000 in 1997 to more than 152,000 in 2007. tion of U.S. Livestock Agriculture: Scale, Efficiency, and Risks.” EIB-43. January
2009 at 7 and 18.
9 Moeller, David. Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG). “Livestock Produc-
Large poultry companies control every step of broiler pro- tion Contracts: Risks for Family Farmers.” March 22, 2003 at 5.
duction — they own the birds from the egg to the grocery 10 MacDonald, James M. USDA ERS. “The Economic Organization of U.S.
Broiler Production.” EIB-38. June 2008 at 22, 24.
store. The companies exert tremendous pressure on the 11 Taylor, C. Robert and David Domina. “Restoring Economic Health to Contract
farmers that raise the birds, often under abusive contracts Poultry Production.” May 13, 2010 at 9.
that dictate to farmers how to raise the chickens and then
collect the birds when they have reached their full weight.5
About half of growers only have one or two processors
nearby, so they have little choice but to accept whatever For more information:
terms the companies offer, 6 including requiring significant web: www.foodandwaterwatch.org
upgrades to their farms to secure contracts.7 New broiler email: info@fwwatch.org
houses often cost between $350,000 and $750,000 for the phone: (202) 683-2500 (DC) • (415) 293-9900 (CA)
two houses that most growers use.8 The contracts do not
pay more to the farmers to make these required upgrades.9 Copyright © January 2011 Food & Water Watch