"It's awful," said Meismer, who lives in rural Bladen County. "It gets in your clothes, it gets in your car and it gets in your house. And it just won't come out."

This time of year, state officials always hear from angry homeowners who live near chicken farms. But there's little the state can do.

Unlike the hog industry, the growing poultry industry is virtually exempt from state regulation. Yet it is the biggest piece of the state's farm economy, accounting for one-third of farm income. Chickens and turkeys number about 165 million in North Carolina, dwarfing a hog population of 9.5 million.

At most chicken farms, no one checks whether farmers are properly handling the tons of waste their birds create. And there are no rules that stop farmers from stinking up neighborhoods, or whole cities, when they scoop rotting manure out of their chicken houses.

That's in stark contrast with the way the state watches over the hog industry. Pig farmers get two visits a year from state regulators. They must apply for permits, get state-approved training and craft waste-management plans. They must build their barns and lagoons -- the open ponds where they store animal waste --at least 1,500 feet from homes.

If a neighbor complains about odor, and the state deems it officially "objectionable," the farmer must go through a multistep process to cut the odor.

Hogs get so much scrutiny because the industry, which grew quickly in the 1990s, made news with lagoon ruptures that dumped millions of gallons of waste into rivers. State officials responded with a clampdown on farms that stored liquid waste in open ponds.

Most poultry farms are exempt from the laws because they don't use lagoons. Rather, dry waste simply builds up under the birds' feet until it is about a foot deep. Once a year, it is cleaned out and spread on fields as fertilizer.

Many say the odor of chicken poop, after months of fermenting, is more intense than hog waste.

However, neighbors of chicken farms have no recourse, even if a nearby farm spews feathers, manure or foul odors onto their property.

Three years ago, a chicken farm moved in next to Meismer. He said it stinks so bad that he often sees drivers going past with their hands over their noses. And in late winter, when the farmer cleans out the manure so it can be used as spring fertilizer, the odor reaches its peak.

In January, Meismer complained to the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources and was told there is nothing the state can do.

Meismer, 59, a retired paper company worker, said he once planned to pass on his home of 30 years to his daughter.

"She said she didn't want to come out here," Meismer said. "It stunk too bad."

Poultry as polluters

As tobacco crops have declined, many farmers have turned to factory-style livestock as a way to make a living on small farms. The state has banned new hog farms since 1997, but the chicken industry has grown steadily.

These days, chickens don't scratch in the barnyard. Instead, as many as 20,000 birds are packed into long, enclosed barns where they spend their whole lives.

It's a system developed by large meatpacking companies, such as Perdue Farms. Most farmers grow chickens on contract to those companies, and the agreements they sign leave them responsible for handling a huge volume of waste.

The hog industry followed a similar model. And though the two industries handle waste differently, they both produce vast amounts of the same pollutants -- nitrogen and phosphorous.

Next page >