Meat+Poultry - November 2018 - 30

CURRENT EVENTS

In the days following the
hurricane, a worker fed
hogs using a handcart
in Columbus County,
North Carolina.

MEAT+ POULTRY | 11.18 | www.meatpoultry.com

over the past 20 years. NCPC has supported
voluntary buyouts of farms located in the 100year floodplain. Commissioner of Agriculture
Steve Troxler and the NC Dept. of Agriculture
secured $5 million in state and federal funding
to continue the program, the NCPC said. An
estimated 60 hog farms remain in the 100-year
floodplain, according to the organization.

IMPACT ON POULTRY
No industry in North Carolina was spared the
damaging winds and torrential rains brought
by Hurricane Florence. But losses across the
agriculture industry were significant, data
from the North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture
and Consumer Services show. Soybean
producers incurred $202,766,766 in losses,
while corn producers suffered losses of
approximately $84,406,799. Pork industry
losses totaled $661,000, while losses in the
beef sector totaled $157,500.
But the North Carolina poultry industry
incurred the highest losses of the state's animal
protein producers at $20,137,107. According to
the North Carolina Poultry Federation, poultry
is the leading agriculture industry in the state
with an economic impact of $36.6 billion.
Laurel, Mississippi-based Sanderson Farms
Inc. said the company received no reports of
serious injury or loss of life to its employees or
growers following the storm.
In more good news, the company's North
Carolina processing facilities, feed mill and
two hatcheries did not sustain any significant
damage. Facilities in the affected area
continued to use diesel-generated power until
electricity was restored. Operations at the
Kinston, North Carolina, feed mill resumed.
Sanderson resumed operations at the Kinston
and St. Pauls processing facilities once
roadways became navigable for employees.
However, the company said 70 broiler
houses out of 880 in North Carolina had
flooded resulting in the loss of 2.1 million
chickens. Sanderson said 1.35 million were
in the company's St. Pauls big bird deboning
division, and 755,000 were destined for the
company's tray pack division in Kinston.
North Carolina is the No. 2 turkey producer
in the United States and the third-largest
producer of poultry. More than 5,700 family
farms produce poultry and eggs in North
Carolina, according to the Federation.

North Carolina Pork Council

30

a relatively limited
component of the more
than $1.1 billion in
damage and losses to the
agricultural community,"
the North Carolina Pork
Council (NCPC) reported in
October. "Our pig farmers
were well prepared for the
storm and came together
in its wake to provide feed
and fuel to those farms in
need immediately following
the storm."
Approximately 5,500
swine - out of a herd of
about 9 million head - died
as a result of the storm.
NCPC said a combination
of wind damage, power
outages and floodwaters
distributed led to the animal
mortality. Before Florence
hit, farmers moved more than 20,000 head to
higher ground, a move that "...unquestionably
reduced animal mortality in our industry,"
NCPC noted.
"One of the lasting stories of Hurricane
Florence involves the heroic actions of
farmers, men and women who slept in the
barn with their animals to ensure their
safety, who delivered feed by the bucketful
when automatic feed systems were knocked
off-line, and who traveled by boat to check on
their barns surrounded by floodwaters," the
organization said.
Despite the damage caused by Hurricane
Florence, hog waste lagoons fared well.
The North Carolina Dept. of Environmental
Quality reported more than 98 percent of the
state's 3,300 active lagoons did not experience
structural damage or overflows as of Oct. 9.
Six farms with anaerobic treatment lagoons
suffered structural damage. The agency also
reported 33 lagoons suffered overtopping
while 10 lagoons were inundated but with no
indicated discharges. "The structural damage
impacts ranged from breach in three instances
to "cracks" in the dike wall or less significant
structural impacts," the NCPC explained.
Fewer farms in the state's 100-year
floodplain also helped. More than 325 hog
lagoons located in the floodplain closed
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Meat+Poultry - November 2018

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