General Permit 101 | What is the general permit and why is it important?

The NC Department of Environmental Quality will soon issue a new draft Swine Waste Management System General Permit. This permit regulates how hog farms in North Carolina are allowed to operate.

 With the upcoming release of the draft permit, here are some important facts about the permit:

• Who needs a permit?

  A General Permit is required for all North Carolina farmers who raise more than 250 pigs a year and aren’t already covered under a federal water quality permit. There are currently more than 2,000 permitted hog farms across North Carolina.
  Description text goes here

• How often do you need to renew your permit?

  Farmers need to obtain a new permit every five years. Hog farmers will need to apply for a new permit in 2024.

• What does the permit require hog farmers to do?

  The General Permit includes several provisions designed to protect public health and the environment. Among the provisions:
  — Farms must be personally inspected each year by state officials.
  — Farms may not discharge any waste into local streams or rivers.
  — Lagoons are required to maintain enough available storage space to withstand severe floods. This includes adequate storage for a 25-year, 24-hour storm event, plus one additional foot of structural freeboard.
  — Farms must develop a detailed waste management plan and keep comprehensive records every time manure is applied to fields. Allowable levels of land application are based on a detailed analysis of the farm’s soil and the nutrients in the lagoon.
  — Waste must be managed in a way that protects public health and the environment. The permit includes extensive regulations regarding lagoon design, construction and operation; land application of manure; mandatory setbacks from neighbors and waterways; and more.
  — Each farm must have a designated “Operator in Charge” responsible for waste management. This individual must take a class, pass a test, and receive continuing education to maintain the license.
  

• How does the state decide what to put in the permit?

  The Department of Environmental Quality has been holding stakeholder meetings across the state with a variety of interested groups, including major integrators, the NC Pork Council, NC Farm Bureau, and NC Farm Families, as well as groups that are opposed to our industry, including Riverkeepers, SELC, REACH, and other activist groups that want to make it more difficult for us to raise animals. These stakeholders provide suggestions and feedback on what changes, in any, should be included in a new permit. DEQ will also consider public comments provided in response to the draft permit.

• What changes might be included in a new permit?

  The 2019 General Permit included three new provisions that are currently being challenged in court. The requirements:
  — Farms must electronically file an annual report each year detailing its management
  — Farms located in the 100-year floodplain must conduct groundwater monitoring
  — Farms must conduct tests using the NC Phosphorus Loss Assessment Tool (PLAT)
  
  The NC Farm Bureau and others appealed these provisions in the 2019 permit, claiming that adding new conditions like this must go through the rulemaking process with the NC Environmental Management Commission. Although the case remains unresolved in the courts, it is likely that DEQ will once again include these provisions in the General Permit.
  

• When will the new permit take effect?

  The new permit takes effect on October 1, 2024.

• How do North Carolina’s permits compare with other states?

  North Carolina has the most stringent regulations in the nation for hog farms. The Department of Environmental Quality agrees, stating on its website that “North Carolina has the strongest permit program for concentrated animal feeding operations in the country and is one of the only states that requires annual inspections of every facility.”

• When was the general permit last updated?

  The State of North Carolina is required to issue a General Permit every five years. The last permit was issued in 2019. Read the 2019 General Permit.

• When was the General Permit first established?

  The State of North Carolina has regulated animal operations, including swine, since 1992.

The 2024 draft permit is expected to be released in early August. Public comments will be accepted for 90 days after the draft permit is issued and a series of public hearings will be scheduled. We’ll discuss the public hearing process and the importance of making your voice heard in future communications.

What is Contract Farming?

In the world of agriculture, you often hear terms like “contract farming” and “integrators,” but many people don’t have a good understanding about what these words mean or how these farms operate.

 In North Carolina, most farms are operated by family farmers. Many of these families have been growing crops and raising livestock for generations.

 Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the concept of “contract farming” began to gain popularity. This is a system where family farmers sign an agreement to raise animals — typically pigs, chickens and turkeys — for companies such as Smithfield, Prestage Farms, or Butterball. These are typically larger companies, known as “integrators.” The name stems from the fact that the entire process of raising animals and selling the final product is integrated and controlled by the company that owns the animals.

For larger companies that sell nationally to large supermarket or retail chains, they have to provide a product that is consistent and uniform. It’s hard to do that if each farmer is feeding their animals different diets or using different breeds of pigs. So these companies are integrated in that they own the pigs and control the genetics, diet, and veterinary care to ensure that the final product is a consistent one for customers.

---

 How Contract Farming Works

Although the integrator owns and controls the big aspects of production, it’s the contract farmers who make the process work. In the simplest terms, integrators provide the animals and the resources they need, while farmers are entrusted to raise the pigs, chickens, and turkeys in a safe and responsible way until they are ready to go to the processing plants.  

The family farmers provide the land, the barns, and the labor needed to properly care for the animals. The integrators provide feed, access to veterinary care, and guidance on how to raise animals most efficiently. 

Contract farming is a team effort, with both sides operating under more predictable conditions while sharing the benefits and risks associated with livestock production.

---

 Why Choose Contract Farming?

Many family farmers choose the contract farming model because it provides a predictable income regardless of changing market conditions. The farmers are free to focus on what they do best — raising healthy animals in a safe and responsible way — without worrying about the buying feed, accessing veterinary care, or issues unrelated to raising the animals.

When market conditions are volatile — like when corn prices are high and market prices are low — it can be a stressful time for independent farmers. Contract growers don’t have to worry about those type of market fluctuations. They raise the animals, and the integrator takes it from it there.

Integrators benefit from greater predictability, too. They take comfort in knowing that their animals are being raised in a similar environment, consistently receiving the same feed and benefiting from expert veterinary care.

While integrators may have preferences in how animals are raised, family farmers still enjoy flexibility in how they operate their farm. The farmer has the ultimate responsibility for managing the farm and raising the animals.

The contract farming model has worked well in North Carolina for decades, but it is not without risk. Challenging market conditions have forced some integrators to reduce their operations or cancel contracts. That can create challenges for farmers who have grown accustomed to a predictable cycle of raising animals.

Contract farming has led to great strides in how we raise livestock through the years. While we don’t know exactly how this system will continue to evolve, North Carolina’s farm families are resilient. Our love for the land and our commitment to the animals we raise remain the foundation on which North Carolina’s agriculture industry stands.

Factory Farm Redefined

What is a factory farm?

A quick Google search of the term “factory farm” describes these farms as industrialized, intensive agriculture operations designed to maximize profits at the expense of the animals, environment, and public health.

Let’s work on redefining that.

In no way is it a factory. It’s a farm. Most likely, it is a family farm.
Is it larger than 50 years ago? Sure.
Does the size change what it is? Nope. Do words like “industrialized” or “intensive” change it? Again, no.

98% of all farms are family-owned and operated.

Those families are utilizing technology to be efficient and produce more with less.

Their efficiency and innovation has indeed been designed to maximize profits. After all, a farm is a business.

Let’s pause here for a second. Does the fact that a farm is a business change anything? Some would say it means farmers are motivated by profit, only caring about the bottom dollar. Here’s the thing—cutting corners and irresponsibly raising animals doesn’t mean more profit. It eats into your profits. Well-cared for animals and efficient facilities mean a higher quality product. Lowering your product’s worth is not profitable.

Back to efficiency and innovation. It has been designed to do more than maximize profits. It also maximizes resources.  In fact, they are using less land, water, and energy to produce pork than ever before.

One way these “factory farms” have done this is to raise animals indoors. This allows them to use less while producing more. It also protects the animals from weather, disease, and predators. But does this protect the environment or public health?

Yes. By maximizing resources, they are being more sustainable. They are feeding more people with less resources (as has been previously mentioned). To raise the same number of animals on pasture would mean a lot more land, a lot less containment, and less control. Pasture isn’t bad. It has its place. Raising animals indoors isn’t bad either, though. It also has its place.

Farmers are maximizing profits through innovation and efficiency because of the animals, environment, and public health, not at the expense of.

Now that that’s settled, let’s amend the definition.

Factory Larger farms are (most likely) family-run industrialized, intensive agriculture operations designed to maximize profits, technology, and resources at the expense because of the animals, environment, and public health.