WASHINGTON – Rapidly growing poultry factory farms in North Carolina house over 421 million birds – equivalent to 37 birds for every person living in the state – and generate 3.6 million tons of manure annually that can contaminate drinking water and threaten public health, a new Environmental Working Group analysis finds.
EWG’s analysis finds that number growing, not shrinking, as the state’s poultry factory farm industry continues to expand largely unchecked. This is the latest update to years-long mapping of North Carolina’s poultry farms. EWG identified 16,678 poultry farms in 2024 that house hundreds of millions of birds.
That is a 3% increase in operations since 2022, the last time EWG updated its analysis of the state – an effort that started in 2016. This growth is speeding up an already intense consolidation of factory farm production in some of the state's most vulnerable areas.
“Every time we investigate North Carolina, we find unchecked concentrated poultry production without meaningful environmental safeguards,” said report author and EWG Senior Geographic Information System Analyst Al Rabine.
The concentration is severe in the 100-year flood plain, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency defines as land with a 1% chance of flooding in any given year. Of the 182 poultry barns EWG found in the 100-year flood plain, 12 sit within 500 feet of a stream, and 25 are within 1,000 feet.
“You don’t need a flood to reach these barns. You just need heavy rain. Putting this much waste this close to moving water isn’t bad luck, but bad planning,” said Rabine.
And this ongoing growth in both the number of poultry farms and the huge amounts of manure they generate is happening with inadequate state and federal oversight.
Pressing health concern
The proximity of massive poultry farm operations to water supplies is a pressing public health concern. When manure is over-applied to fields, it introduces nitrogen compounds that convert to nitrate in drinking water. Nitrate is linked in peer-reviewed research to increased risk of colorectal, bladder, kidney and ovarian cancers, as well as birth defects including low birth weight and spina bifida.
Nitrogen and phosphorus from manure also fuel toxic algae blooms that threaten recreational water use and can sicken people through drinking water or contact. Exposure to toxic algae can cause respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and skin problems.
Manure runoff frequently carries bacteria like E. coli and Giardia into drinking water supplies relied on by communities using private wells. These organisms cause acute gastrointestinal illness including severe vomiting and diarrhea.
Risks from poultry manure can extend beyond drinking water. When manure washes into waterways used to irrigate farm fields, disease-causing bacteria and other pathogens can reach fruit and vegetable crops before they are harvested. Public health officials have flagged this pathway in recent multistate foodborne illness outbreaks tied to pathogens moving from livestock operations and manure runoff into irrigation water.
“Large-scale agriculture isn’t just a nuisance, it’s a health threat, and it’s harming the communities that live closest to these poultry farms,” said Rabine. “These communities deserve better than becoming the dumping ground for poultry waste. Policy actions can help and they are long overdue.”
State, federal oversight falls short
North Carolina’s approach to regulating concentrated animal operations has created conditions where the industry can expand virtually unchecked.
Local communities have little say in siting decisions. State oversight of poultry manure management is minimal. And the impact – 3.6 million tons of waste generated annually with no comprehensive plan for where it goes or how it's managed – remains largely invisible to policymakers and the public.
EWG is calling for North Carolina officials to strengthen oversight of manure application and require detailed, enforceable waste management plans for poultry operations, particularly those in flood-prone areas.
At the federal level, the Trump administration should finalize a Biden-era Department of Agriculture proposal that would overhaul how big meat companies contract with small livestock farmers, making poultry growing contracts more transparent, preventing farmers from being required to make costly barn upgrades without disclosure, and stopping companies from cutting farmers’ pay based on rankings against other farmers.
Consumers can also help by choosing poultry raised outside industrial operations whenever possible, reducing overall consumption of factory-farmed meat, and supporting policies that protect water quality and rural communities.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
