The third-largest U.S. poultry processor lost at least 8 percent of its chickens in North Carolina due to flooding from Hurricane Florence, and expects lower meat production through December as a result. Sanderson Farms was the first meat processor to announce livestock losses: 1.7 million chickens.
State officials said on Tuesday that 26 manure lagoons were breached, flooded or “overtopped” by rainwater. Thirty additional lagoons were likely to overflow and 25 were running out of storage capacity, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. Lagoons are used mostly by large-scale hog farms.
North Carolina is the No. 2 state for hogs and No. 3 in broiler chickens. Environmental groups have argued for years that there are too many industrial-size livestock farms in the state, especially in its lower-lying eastern half, and that lagoons are vulnerable to hurricanes. However, the hog industry suffered limited damage from Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, and industry leaders said ahead of Hurricane Florence that many farms had ample capacity in their lagoons for rainfall.
People who live near large hog farms have higher death rates from a variety of causes than do North Carolinians who live farther away from those concentrated animal feeding operations, said researchers led by Duke Health scientists in a study published in the North Carolina Medical Journal. “Life expectancy in North Carolina communities near hog CAFOs remains low, even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors that are known to affect people’s health and lifespan,” said professor H. Kim Lyerly, the senior author. The study did not say the farms pose a risk; one of the authors said more research is needed into the effect on health of environmental factors.
Some 66 broiler and breeder barns were flooded or damaged in North Carolina, with the loss of 1.7 million of an inventory that averages 20 million birds, said Sanderson Farms. In addition, 30 farms with a total of 6.3 million birds were isolated by floods. “Losses of live inventory could escalate if the company does not regain access to those farms.”
In the longer run, Sanderson Farms said it will be unable to hatch and place broiler chickens at its usual pace with contract growers in the coming week. “The reduced egg sets and chick placements will affect the company’s weekly processing volumes through December, with the reductions occurring primarily during October and November.” The company did not provide an estimate of the reduction. Chief executive Joe Sanderson Jr. said the company’s assets were not significantly damaged.
Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. red meat and poultry processor, said two poultry farms near Fayetteville, North Carolina, were affected by Hurricane Florence. Overall, there was minimal damage to “live poultry operations” in North Carolina and Virginia, it said. The largest U.S. pork producer, Smithfield Foods, owns 250 hog farms and has 1,500 contract growers in Virginia and North Carolina.
The North Carolina Pork Council said “historic flooding … has continued to cause widespread impacts across eastern North Carolina, including affecting our hog farms.” Its tally of lagoons affected by the hurricane matched the state count.
Four lagoons have structural damage, which can include a breach, said the state Department of Environmental Quality. Nine were flooded and 13 overflowed. In addition, 30 lagoons were at maximum capacity, with “no room for material in the lagoon, overtopping likely,” and levels in 25 lagoons were within three inches of overflowing.
In Hurricane Matthew, poultry producers lost 1.8 million chickens and turkeys and hog farmers lost 2,800 hogs. The North Carolina state Agriculture Department said there was $400 million in damage to field crops and $200 million in losses to landscape and nursery crops from that storm. Green groups said 39 barns on 10 large-scale hog farms and 102 barns on 26 broiler chicken farms were flooded by Matthew.
Matthew flooded 14 hog lagoons and partially beached one. Hurricane Floyd inundated 55 hog lagoons, breached six and killed 21.474 hogs in 1999.