The Trouble with North Carolina's Factory Hog Farms

Today, more than 10 million hogs are being raised in North Carolina on factory farms – industrialized operations that house thousands of pigs in very small confined spaces and rely on the heavy use antibiotics, artificial hormones, and other chemicals to promote fast growth. These hogs produce 40 million gallons of untreated manure and other waste each day that continue to create serious public health and environmental consequences in North Carolina.

The tons of liquid and solid waste generated by the hogs, which can contain toxins like ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, nitrates, and bacteria, accumulate in open-aired pits (called lagoons) that often overflow or leak into local waterways. As an industry norm, this liquefied hog manure is then regularly sprayed onto nearby agricultural fields less than 100 feet away from family homes, schools and parks where children play, and churches where people worship.

While the constant stench from these lagoons and sprayfields has had a negative impact on the quality of life in communities near these farms, more serious issues have been documented. Studies have shown that communities near these facilities suffer from respiratory problems, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances. Nitrates and other chemicals from factory farms that end up in surface and groundwater also threaten the health of nearby communities. Health risks from excessive nitrate exposure include blue baby syndrome, disruption of thyroid function, and bladder cancer.

Manure that has entered waterways can also fuel algal blooms that can deplete oxygen in water and result in the death of fish and other marine life. These are not hypothetical threats—North Carolina’s waters have been polluted repeatedly by waste from hog farms. The worst example on record occurred in 2003 when Hurricane Floyd released 120 million gallons of hog waste into nearby waterways.

It does not have to be this way – the hog industry has changed dramatically over the last few decades and it can change again. A huge number of family farms used to raise the state’s hogs outdoors, allowing them to forage for some of their food, and used their waste as fertilizer. Small and midsized farms anchored robust rural economies, while producing food for North Carolina and beyond. We need to take steps now towards creating a more responsible agricultural economy while protecting the health of North Carolina residents and the environment.

Shutting down the manure lagoons and the spraying of untreated hog waste would address some of the biggest public health and environmental problems caused by these massive factory farms. Ending one of the worst practices employed by these factory hog farms would also be a step towards changing the industrial model of farming and creating a more responsible agricultural economy.

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What You Can Do

It’s time to move North Carolina away from polluting factory farms and towards a sustainable and diversified agricultural economy.

Tell your legislator to support legislation that would:

1) Set a deadline for ending the current industry practice of keeping open-air hog manure lagoons

2) End the practice of spraying this liquefied animal waste onto fields that are often within a few dozen feet of a neighbor’s home.

3) Initiate a study to facilitate North Carolina’s transition from a large-scale industrial farm model towards a more diversified and sustainable agricultural system..

Take Action: sign the petition now.