This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Fourth Estate Fund.
Benjamin Schachtman: All right, with me now is David Boraks. He's a writer, editor, and photographer — you may know him from his long career as a reporter, producer, and host at our sister station in Charlotte, WFAE. He's now a freelance journalist, and he has produced for us a four-part series on CAFOs, that's concentrated animal feeding operations, that aired all this week. And you can find that series, CAFO Country at WHQR.org.
So, David, thank you so much for this reporting series, and thank you for being here today.
David Boraks: Happy to do it, Ben.
BS: Okay, so my first question: when it comes to North Carolina's pork industry, much of what we're talking about is this lagoon and spray operation. And so, for the uninitiated, what is that?
DB: So when farmers decided to move pigs out of pastures and into large barns, they needed a way to handle all that waste. Experts from North Carolina State University worked with Extension agents and farmers to come up with the system that's used at most farms in the state. Now you have thousands of hogs in each barn, and their waste drops down into tanks below. The waste is then flushed into ponds or lagoons. They're typically 15 or 20 feet deep, and the waste is periodically sprayed on nearby farm fields as fertilizer. They use a system of pumps, pipes and giant sprinklers for that, the solids are also spread on the fields, though not as often.
BS: Right, and as you report, you know, a lot of academic and industry work went into modernizing this lagoon and spray system, and it certainly provided some benefits for the hog industry, but it also poses some pretty significant environmental and health concerns.
DB: For one the lagoons, and especially the spraying, can smell bad and make people sick. Neighbors of hog farms have sued and won financial judgments over this, but that's harder than ever to do since the General Assembly passed restrictions eight years ago, environmental and community activists say that poultry and hog manure are a public health risk, and that's backed up by numerous studies. It contains chemicals such as phosphorus, ammonia, and nitrogen, as well as harmful bacteria and viruses. There was one study out this spring that detailed how manure particles can collect in people's yards and even inside their houses, and nutrients and animal waste also can flow into waterways and wetlands, following the water and damaging ecosystems.
BS: So in addition to that study that you just mentioned, I know that you reported historically, there's been a number of studies on the health impacts, but also on different ways to possibly deal with hog waste. But what is, sort of, the status of that research right now and going forward?
DB: Yeah, there are new studies coming out all the time about the health impacts and environmental impacts of hog CAFOs and poultry CAFOs, but I'm not sure we're going to see as much of that in the future. And we just had an example recently where the Trump administration canceled a federal grant that was funding research into the social and economic impacts of CAFOs in North Carolina, specifically. And it looks like that study is dead for now, so we could see less of this in the future.
BS: You know one thing your reporting has helped frame for me and I hope for listeners and readers, is just how long this issue has been going on. I mean, back in the 1990s the state legislature put a moratorium on new lagoon and spray farms, and almost two decades ago, that turned into a permanent ban. So what's been going on with that? And why do we still see so many of these farms?
DB: Well, it's a good question. Back in the mid-1990s lawmakers pretty much agreed that these systems were a problem. In 1997, they imposed a moratorium, and that became a permanent ban in 2007. The whole idea was to buy time for finding new ways of dealing with hog waste. The state didn't outlaw existing farms, but it banned new ones or expansions that use the lagoon and spray setups. Practically speaking, it means North Carolina can have up to eight or nine million hogs and remain a top US hog producer indefinitely. There really haven't been any major technological advances to replace lagoons. We have a few covered lagoons that capture methane for use as natural gas, but that's still just experimental.
BS: One thing some farmers and industry groups told you is that there are more ecologically friendly ways to farm pigs, but not ones that are financially viable. So how has that tension played out?
DB: Some environmentalists compare the growth of hog farms to when people moved into cities. You know, we developed sewage systems to handle that growth. There's no such thing for animals. And pork industry experts say that requiring that kind of waste treatment would force some farms to close and make pork more expensive. Meanwhile, with the growth of hog operations restricted by law, farmers began looking for new ways to generate revenue and grow, and, for many, that's meant poultry. We now have about a billion chickens and turkeys in North Carolina, most in the eastern part of the state.
BS: Right — and you reported that, look, there are some concerns about the environmental impacts of poor CAFOs, but it's heavily regulated. That's not the case for poultry.
DB: That's right. And thanks to laws that favor the industry, we don't even know exactly how many poultry farms there are in North Carolina. And there are far fewer restrictions on chickens and turkeys. A few years ago, investigative journalists at the Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer worked with environmentalists and used satellite data to come up with an estimated 4700 farms in 79 counties. State Agriculture officials probably have a clearer picture, but their data is secret by law, and they don't even share it with state environmental officials who police water and air quality. There have been efforts at the legislature to require waste management plans and other regulations similar to hogs, but every year those bills have died in committee.
BS: So was there anything in your reporting that, like, really surprised you or that you think would surprise readers and listeners?
DB: Several things, really, Ben. North Carolina has just 16 inspectors for making sure animal waste isn't a public health threat to our water. Also, I didn't realize how the status quo for hogs is really entrenched by state law; there's no incentive for serious efforts to come up with a replacement for the lagoon and spray system. You know, that was a goal two decades ago, but we hardly hear about it. And finally, it's oversimplifying to see farmers as the problem. You know, they're our neighbors and local business people. Farmers like Marlowe Ivey and Goldsboro in part four of our series, are doing everything they can to follow the rules, not only state rules, but strict requirements of the companies they grow for. The law allows them to operate the way they do. If we want to change that, it'll take big innovations and close negotiations with the industry to come up with something that balances economics and the environment.
BS: Alright, environmental journalist David Boraks, who put together the CAFO Country series for us here at WHQR, excellent reporting. Thank you so much for your work and thanks for being here today.
DB: You're welcome, Ben.
