"North Carolina’s poultry industry continues to add more birds to already highly concentrated barns, generating millions of tons of manure that is largely unregulated by the state, according to a new report. 

The report, released Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), mapped chicken and turkey operations across the state, which is the leading producer of chicken meat in the US, supplying roughly 13% of the nation’s total each year. 

The report found the state raised more than 421 million chickens and turkeys in 2024 — a 3% increase since 2022, according to federal data analyzed by EWG. The birds are mostly raised in large, tightly packed barns, and the industry produces over 3.6 million tons of manure annually. 

The state has previously recognized potential problems with the growth of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). In 2007, after years of scrutiny of pollution from hog CAFOs, state lawmakers finalized a moratorium for any new or expanded hog farms that gather manure in lagoons and spray it on fields as fertilizer."

Brian Bienkowski reports for The New Lede August 19, 2026. The New Lede is an independently edited publication of the Environmental Working Group (EWG). 

SEE ALSO:

"421M Birds, 3.6M Tons Of Manure: North Carolina Poultry Boom Fuels Growing Water Pollution Crisis" (EWG release)

"Interactive Map: Tracking State Food Chemical Regulation In The U.S." (EWG)

Source: The New Lede, 08/20/2026