Cleveland County The Latest To See Surge In NC Poultry Production

The demand for poultry is exploding across the country, and that massive growth plays out in North Carolina, one of the nation's top poultry producers. The economic boom is good for business - but it's also raising questions about the amount of waste created from these birds.

WFDD's Keri Brown has been covering the issue in Western North Carolina. This time, she heads to Cleveland County - where some residents wonder if the area is prepared to handle the ballooning number of chicken houses.

Just off of Highway 10 sits Pisgah Baptist Church in the little town of Casar. A cemetery there looks onto views of the South Mountains. It's peaceful and quiet when David Caldwell pulls up in his blue pickup truck.

He points to a field across the street.

“And directly across Wards Gap Road is the proposed site for a what we hear is going to be a 16 chicken house facility,” says Caldwell. “The property is only a couple of hundred of yards from the church that we're standing at.”

Caldwell says he's worried about how all of these chicken houses could impact his community, and he has a right to be concerned.

WFDD reported on a recent study from the state Department of Environmental Quality. It found that there's more waste from poultry than cattle and swine combined. It also shows that the state doesn't really know the scope of the issue. Caldwell wants to know where all that chicken manure is going.

“Where we are is the headwaters of the First Broad River which is the drinking water intake for Cleveland County. These creeks in this area should be the cleanest around, but we don't know anymore,” says Caldwell. “We have all of these chicken facilities and we don't know how they are affecting our water supply and air quality.”

The DEQ faces challenges here. It's a department that's stretched thin. The governor's office says budget cuts have hampered regulators' ability to monitor the state's water quality. And farmers don't need a permit to run a dry-litter poultry operation - meaning that the agency doesn't even know where all of them are located.

Christine Lawson with DEQ says it's proposing to keep the current rules in place for poultry, and is adding a few more. 

“We are adding these conditions, they are not drastic changes,” says Lawson. “They are activities that are standard practice and therefore would not constitute a radical change, but they would be requirements now for these facilities to maintain their non-discharge status.”

Pitted against all of these environmental concerns is the fact that this industry is exploding in the state. Bob Ford is with the North Carolina Poultry Federation. He says major companies including Tyson and Sanderson Farms are investing big money in their North Carolina processing plants.

“Per capita consumption is at an all-time high, about 92 pounds per person, average, and that's up from last year,” says Ford. “That's one of the reasons that North Carolina is growing is because of the demand for the product.”

Ford says North Carolina is also making inroads with the organic and antibiotic free poultry markets. The industry is a major driver for local economies and the state.

Which brings us back to Cleveland County, the latest area seeing this surge in poultry production. North Carolina House speaker Tim Moore is at the front of the issue. He's the attorney for Cleveland County. Moore says lawmakers aren't looking at any new laws on poultry right now, but they'll continue to have discussions, both with businesses and landowners.

“I think the example here in Cleveland County where these good folks came to let their concerns be known, that's something that I'm going to make sure is relayed to folks on the poultry side,” says Moore. “We all have to be able to eat, we need agriculture for that purpose, but at the same time folks have a right to be able to have their homes and not be disturbed.”

David Caldwell says while lawmakers are busy talking about the issue, it'll be too late for places like his home in Cleveland County. He's says he won't stop fighting, because the rules right now just aren't good enough.

“They're keeping the information about what's going on in the public's backyard and that's not going on in any other industry in our state,” says Caldwell. “What we would like to see is more transparency and more public input, so that neighbors would have a chance to at least voice their opinions on having a chicken farm in their backyard.”  

There will be three public hearings this month on the new rules for dry litter poultry across the state. The DEQ is collecting written feedback through November 22. 

All of this information will be sent to a politically appointed group called the Environmental Management Commission. It's considering the DEQ's incremental proposals and the public comments. That group has the final say on whether any of these changes can happen.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news