FOOD

Factory Farms in Maryland

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 Maryland, there were 7,000 dairy cows and 33.2 million chickens
on the largest operations in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Census of Agriculture.

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 compa-
nies that dominate the industry. The scale of poultry farms
has grown rapidly, as growers try to eke out a living by
increasing the volume of birds they produce. The number
of factory-farmed broiler chickens in Maryland more than
doubled, from 13.7 million birds in 1997 to 30.8 million
birds in 2007. The average size of broiler operations in
Concentration of factory farms in Maryland, taken from factoryfarmmap.
org. Dark red indicates the most severe density. Maryland grew 17.3 percent, from about 133,000 birds in
1997 to 156,000 in 2007.
The silos and gentle meadows pictured on the labels of the Although the poultry companies own the chickens and
food most Americans buy have little relation to how that the feed that goes into them, the farmers are responsible
food is actually produced. for managing the manure. In many dense poultry produc-
tion areas, the volume of poultry litter greatly exceeds the
The significant growth in industrial-scale, factory-farmed
capacity of nearby farmland.
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 Total Factory-Farmed Broiler Chickens in Maryland
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.
Even the producers are not benefitting from this system of
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. Source: USDA.
The nearly 31 million broiler chickens on factory farms
in Maryland — mostly on the Eastern Shore — produce
as much untreated manure as the sewage from 10 million
people, nearly twice the state’s population. Livestock ma-
nure from the watersheds that feed the Chesapeake Bay are
the source of about one-fourth of the pollution that causes
oxygen-depleted dead zones in the bay.
Perdue’s poultry operations in the Chesapeake Bay pro-
duce so much more waste than the region can handle that
the manure has to be trucked out of the state. In 2009, the
Waterkeeper Alliance and Assateague Coastkeeper filed suit
against a broiler farm and Perdue, which contracted with
the farm, for allegedly allowing an uncovered manure pile
to drain into a tributary of the Pocomoke River, leading to
elevated nitrogen, E. coli and fecal coliform levels.
Poultry companies like Perdue control every step of broiler
production — 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.1 About half of growers only have one or two
processors nearby, so they have little choice but to accept
whatever terms the companies offer,2 including requiring
significant upgrades to their farms to secure contracts.3
New broiler houses often cost between $350,000 and
$750,000 for the two types of facilities that most growers
use.4 The contracts do not pay more to the farmers to make
these required upgrades.5 Many contract poultry growers
barely break even.6 Poultry growers lost money 10 of the
15 years between 1995 and 2009.7
Factory farms cause extensive environmental damage and
leave communities with fewer independent family farms,
unsafe water, reduced air quality and depressed econo-
mies. 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 Maryland and to take action to stop
the spread of factory farms.
Endnotes
1 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.
2 MacDonald, James M. USDA ERS. “The Economic Organization of
U.S. Broiler Production.” EIB-38. June 2008 at 13.
3 American Antitrust Institute’s Transition Report on Competition
Policy: Chapter 8 Fighting Food Inflation through Competition. 2008
at 304.
4 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.
5 Moeller, David. Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG). “Live-
stock Production Contracts: Risks for Family Farmers.” March 22,
2003 at 5.
6 MacDonald, James M. USDA ERS. “The Economic Organization of
U.S. Broiler Production.” EIB-38. June 2008 at 22, 24.
7 Taylor, C. Robert and David Domina. “Restoring Economic Health to
Contract Poultry Production.” May 13, 2010 at 9.
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Copyright © February 2011 Food & Water Watch