FOOD

Factory Farms in Georgia

Fact Sheet • February 2011

O ver the last two decades, small- and medium-scale livestock farms have given
way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in tightly
packed facilities. In Georgia, there were 236,000 hogs, 35,000 dairy cows and more
than 159 million chickens on the largest operations in 2007, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture. Georgia ranks first in the nation in
factory-farmed broiler chickens.

production because they are not getting paid much for the
livestock they raise.

The rise of factory farming was no accident. It resulted from

policy choices driven by big agribusinesses, especially
meatpackers and processors that dominate the links in the
food chain between livestock producers and consumers.

Poultry
Chicken meat comes from billions of chickens raised on
large-scale broiler chicken operations where farmers raise
birds on contract for the few poultry processing companies
that dominate the industry. The scale of poultry farms has

Concentration of factory farms in Georgia, taken from

factoryfarmmap.org. Dark red indicates the most severe density. Total Factory-Farmed Broiler Chickens in Georgia

The silos and gentle meadows pictured on the labels of the

food most Americans buy have little relation to how that
food is actually produced.

The significant growth in industrial-scale, factory-farmed

livestock has contributed to a host of environmental, public
health, economic and food safety problems. Tens of thou-
sands of animals can generate millions of tons of manure
annually, which pollutes water and air and can have health
repercussions on nearby communities. Consumers in dis-
tant markets also feel the impacts, either through foodborne
illness outbreaks or other public health risks, or through
the loss of regional food systems. As consumers saw dur-
ing the 2010 egg recall, food safety problems on even a
few factory farms can end up in everyone’s refrigerators. Source: USDA.
Even the producers are not benefitting from this system of

grown rapidly, as growers try to eke out a living by increas-
ing the volume of birds they produce.
Broiler production is concentrated in southeastern states
and concentrated within states into localized clusters
around processing plants.1 Three-fifths of broilers are raised
in Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.
The number of factory-farmed broiler chickens in Georgia
nearly doubled from 111.5 million in 1997 to 204.9 mil-
lion in 2007. The average-sized broiler operation in Geor-
gia increased by 7.1 percent over the decade to more than
173,600.
Although the poultry companies own the chickens and
the feed that goes into them, the farmers are responsible
for managing the manure. In many dense poultry produc-
tion areas, the volume of poultry litter greatly exceeds the
capacity of nearby farmland. The more than 17.5 mil-
lion broiler chickens on factory farms in Franklin County,
Georgia, produce as much untreated manure as the sewage
from the Philadelphia metro area, and the more than 10.7
million broiler chickens on factory farms in Gilmer County,
Georgia, produce as much untreated manure as the sewage
from the Seattle metro area.
The poultry companies control every step of broiler pro-
duction — they own the birds from the egg to the grocery
store. The companies exert tremendous pressure on the
farmers that raise the birds, often under abusive contracts
that dictate to farmers how to raise the chickens and then
collect the birds when they have reached their full weight.2
About half of growers only have one or two processors
nearby, so they have little choice but to accept whatever
terms the companies offer,3 including requiring significant
upgrades to their farms to secure contracts.4 New broiler
houses often cost between $350,000 and $750,000 for the
two facilities that most growers use.5 The contracts do not
pay more to the farmers to make these required upgrades.6
Many contract poultry growers barely break even.7 Poultry
growers lost money in 10 of the 15 years between 1995
and 2009.8
Factory farms cause extensive environmental damage and
leave communities with fewer independent family farms,
unsafe water, reduced air quality and depressed economies.
Instead of benefitting, consumers face foodborne illness
outbreaks and public health threats like antibiotic-resistant
bacteria, and fewer real choices about how their food is
produced.
Congress, regulatory agencies and state goverments need to
put a stop to the policies that have allowed these facilities
to proliferate. They must create and enforce farm and food
policies that allow farmers to make a living and do not
harm communities, the environment or public health.
Take action: Go to www.factoryfarmmap.org to learn more
about factory farms in Illinois and to take action to stop the
spread of factory farms.
Endnotes
1 MacDonald, James M. USDA ERS. “The Economic Organization of
U.S. Broiler Production.” EIB-38. June 2008 at 2.
2 Taylor, C. Robert. Auburn University. “The Many Faces of Power in
the Food System.” Presentation at the DOJ/FTC Workshop on Merger
Enforcement. February 17, 2004 at 6.
3 MacDonald, James M. USDA ERS. “The Economic Organization of
U.S. Broiler Production.” EIB-38. June 2008 at 13.
4 American Antitrust Institute’s Transition Report on Competition
Policy: Chapter 8 Fighting Food Inflation through Competition. 2008
at 304.
5 MacDonald, James M. and William D. McBride. USDA ERS. “The
Transformation of U.S. Livestock Agriculture: Scale, Efficiency, and
Risks.” EIB-43. January 2009 at 7 and 18.
6 Moeller, David. Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG). “Live-
stock Production Contracts: Risks for Family Farmers.” March 22,
2003 at 5.
7 MacDonald, James M. USDA ERS. “The Economic Organization of
U.S. Broiler Production.” EIB-38. June 2008 at 22, 24.
8 Taylor, C. Robert and David Domina. “Restoring Economic Health to
Contract Poultry Production.” May 13, 2010 at 9.
For more information:
web: www.foodandwaterwatch.org
email: info@fwwatch.org
phone: (202) 683-2500 (DC) • (415) 293-9900 (CA)
Copyright © February 2011 Food & Water Watch