contribute employment to the people in these counties. It is estimated that the hog industry directly and indirectly contributed 32,500 jobs in 1994. Much of this employment comes in industry indirectly related to farming. These businesses include food processing, containment house manufacture and construction, equipment manufacture and maintenance, and feed milling, among others.In eastern North Carolina, tourism is the largest economic sector, generating $387 million tax revenue in 1994. Recently, this industry has had to increase advertising to counteract the decrease in tourism in response to last summer’s lagoon spills. It is estimated that these spill created a loss of recreation benefits. Several of the coastal fishing areas were forced to close due to effects from increased river nutrients. Also, real estate values can be affected by high-density farming. If the residents near a farm can perceive an unpleasant odor, the value of their land may be reduced.Besides disagreeing about the level and extent of regulatory reform, people disagree about the level of technology that is necessary to treat livestock waste safely. Some say that when used properly, current waste treatment methods are adequate. Others say that livestock operators need to adopt new waste treatment technologies. The Sierra Club’s Holman would like livestock operations to use more advanced treatments such as those used for human waste, but, he says, the animal industry says they are too expensive (America’s Animal Factories). Two growing-finishing trials involving 432 gilts were used to determine the potential of reducing nitrogen excretion while maintaining swine performance and carcass merit. This was done by substituting a portion of the soybean meal by synthetic amino acids. The study suggests that decreasing dietary crude protein and thus total nitrogen by decreasing soybean meal and using synthetic amino acids has the potential to s...
