farm families

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.

"NC Hog Farmers Important" say Activists | Contradict Statement with Actions

“Although we understand that the pork industry is important…”

Words said by activists opposing North Carolina hog farms and their efforts to implement innovations.

They say that they understand that the NC pork industry is important, but do they really?

Do they comprehend what 44,000 jobs looks like?

Do they understand what $10 billion does for the state’s economy?

Do they know that our hog farmers feed 20 million people every year?

Do they realize just how important the pork industry is to NC families and communities?

The same families and communities they are supposedly advocating for and protecting.

Saying “we understand that the pork industry is important,” while suing us, filing legal complaints against us, attacking us, blocking efforts to implement innovative technology, and even effectively causing farms to shut down — saying we’re important while simultaneously scorning us is a backhanded compliment that no one is falling for.

They don’t believe we are important. They only say that to save face and bolster credibility. To them, we are a scourge to this state. We cause egregious injustices, pollute the environment, and are greedy. We are not important. It would be just fine if we were run out of town.

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And even if they do mean what they say and understand the positive impacts the pork industry has on North Carolina communities, their actions and words tell a different story.

Here are two examples:

(1) “Although we understand that the pork industry is important, researchers have repeatedly found that pollution from the state’s industrial hog operations disproportionately affect African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans in a pattern that they concluded, ‘is generally recognized as environmental racism.’’’—Robert Moore, president of the Duplin County Branch of the NC Conference of the NAACP.

The research that they refer to is flawed and inaccurate. Hog farms do not disproportionately affect these groups. The pork industry does not impact communities in such a way that is to be considered environmental racism. Whatever importance they see in the pork industry is clearly nullified by their opinion of the affect hog farms incur on certain communities. What’s more, their incessant need to use bogus and negligent research shows they are not interested in truly recognizing the benefits the pork industry offers.

(2)  During the nuisance lawsuits against hog farmers, covered lagoons were highlights as an example of a better, more sustainable option than the current lagoon system. But when the pork industry made efforts to implement covered lagoons that would create renewable energy, the opposition was fierce. Why are these activists trying to stop farmers from implementing sustainable and innovative technology that is good for the community? Because they don’t truly believe the pork industry is important.

Long story, short, when these groups say that the pork industry is important, it rings hollow and untrue. It’s an effort to play the good guy. They don’t believe it, not really.

Farmers are humble, hard-working people who don’t like to shout about our importance. But we know our worth. We just wish these groups did, too.

Kids Target of Anti-Hog Farm Messages

The billboards may be gone, and the lawsuits settled, but the fight for North Carolina pig farmers and our farming communities continues. Attacks continue, and now they are targeting your children.

It’s in college lectures, high school & elementary classrooms, and now even on major programming like Nickelodeon. As a part of an Earth Day segment, Nickelodeon highlighted the “environmental racism” and “pollution” that North Carolina hog farmers are inflicting. The network’s programming is primarily aimed at children 2-17, while some of its programs target the entire family.

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When it came to their segment on the atrocities of NC pig farms, we weren’t surprised to see names like Rick Dove, Waterkeepers Alliance, and Cape Fear River Watch in the credits.  

We say all this to bring awareness. Anti-agriculture activists are going beyond billboards, legislators, and lawsuits. They are targeting your kids.

As Parents, teachers and community members, we need to stay vigilant of the facts or “lack of facts” that are being fed to our children about agriculture.

The farm should not be portrayed as a place of pollution and mean-spirited, careless farmers. It should be highlighted as a place of innovation, career opportunities, and fellow families. Those who get to grow up on the farm, know just how many important lessons the farm can provide. That’s the message that should be shared to all kids—farms are good and important. They aren’t inherently bad.

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We are not just fighting misconceptions of where food comes from and what a farmer looks like. We are fighting against misconceptions about the very character and value of farms and farmers.

The youth of today hold the future of tomorrow. What will tomorrow look like for our farmers and our communities? Will the future be a generation who has been taught that farmers are a danger to our health and environment, or will it be a generation who stands up and preserves farms?

We’ve seen what happens when there is a disconnect between farmers and the public. Activists want to make that disconnect even greater by targeting the next generation of leaders and consumers.

Stay vigilant, friends. The billboards may have faded, but the attacks haven’t. They’ve just switched gears. Keep sharing the true story of farmers, especially to our young people.

Reliable Sources for Youth & Parents/Teachers:

 

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