2021-Appendix-V-III---USDA-Animal-Census-Data

Chowan – Appendix V-III 1 2/18/2021

Appendix V-III
USDA Animal Census of Agriculture Data

Information about the number and types of animal operations in counties located entirely or partially in the Chowan River
basin were queried using the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture. The census and the query are available online:
https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/?source_desc=CENSUS. The census definition of a farm is “any place from which $1,000
or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year”
(USDA, 2017). For the purposes of this report, the 2007, 2012, and 2017 census was queried for the sector “animals and
products”. To remain consistent with the type of information presented, “inventory” was selected as the category and
queried for all three census years. Inventories are measured as of December 31st of the census year (USDA, 2017). In North
Carolina, counties included in the query were Bertie, Chowan, Gates, Hertford, and Northampton. Because much of the
Chowan River basin is located in Virginia, animal numbers were also queried for counties located entirely or partially in
the Chowan River basin in Virginia. In some cases, the census allows for queries on the watershed scale. Animal numbers
for the South Atlantic Gulf – Albemarle HUC 030201 are also included to provide an overall view of the types and number
of animals located throughout the entire river basin. These numbers are included as a way to help identify potential
sources of nutrients in the basin. More in-depth analysis is needed to understand how the number of animals and
operations, fertilizer, and crop types as well as soil can potentially impact the amount of nutrients in the basin.

Chowan – Appendix V-III 2 2/18/2021

NORTH CAROLINA
Poultry (Chicken), Total – Inventory
The numbers associated with poultry are the total number of animals (broilers) and total number of operations with
inventory reported at a point in time (end of December) for each census year in each county. None of the poultry
operations fall under the definition of a “animal operation” as defined under North Carolina’s General Statute 143-
215.10B. More information about North Carolina’s Animal Feeding Operations (AFO) Program can be found in Chapter 7.

Total Poultry Inventory (CHICKEN, BROILERS)
County 2007 2012 2017 % Change
2007-2012
% Change
2012-2017
% Change
2007-2017
County %
of Total
(2017)
BERTIE 5,251,485 6,083,898 5,863,743 15.9 -3.6 11.7 53.3
CHOWAN 259,495 250,475 (D) -3.5
GATES 826,791 1,125,530 1,474,245 36.1 31.0 78.3 13.4
HERTFORD 1,623,690 2,116,632 2,140,814 30.4 1.1 31.8 19.5
NORTHAMPTON 1,535,427 1,819,554 1,514,480 18.5 -16.8 -1.4 13.8
TOTALS 9,496,888 11,396,089 10,993,282 20.0 -3.5 15.8
(D) Information withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual farms.

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2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
12,000,000
2007 2012 2017
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Poultry Inventory
(Chicken, Broilers -End of December)
Total Inventory Number of Operations
Number of Operations with Poultry
Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017
BERTIE 51 63 67
CHOWAN 8 6 2
GATES 12 17 20
HERTFORD 21 31 25
NORTHAMPTON 22 14 18
TOTALS 114 131 132

Chowan – Appendix V-III 3 2/18/2021

Hogs, Total – Inventory
Swine/hog numbers are generally low in the five counties located entirely or partially in the basin. The numbers associated
with swine/hogs are the total number of animals and total number of operations with inventory reported at a point in
time (end of December) for each census year in each county. There are no new or expanding permitted swine
operations in the Chowan River basin. Instead, the increase in number of operations and total number of animals are
associated with farms that are below the 250 permitting threshold defined under North Carolina’s General Statute 143-
215.10B. Therefore, these operations are not required to obtain a permit. More information about North Carolina’s
Animal Feeding Operations (AFO) Program can be found in Chapter 7.

Total Hogs Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017 % Change
2007-2012
% Change
2012-2017
% Change
2007-2017
County %
of Total
(2017)
BERTIE 47,307 (D) (D)
CHOWAN (D) 6,220 (D)
GATES 27,775 22,637 24,195 -18.5 6.9 -12.9 18.2
HERTFORD 63,721 (D) (D)
NORTHAMPTON 153,834 101,623 108,889 -33.9 7.1 -29.2 81.8
TOTALS 292,637 130,480 133,084 -55.4 2.0 -54.5
(D) Information withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual farms.

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100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
2007 2012 2017
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Hog Inventory
(End of December)
Total Inventory Number of Operations
Number of Operations with Hog Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017
BERTIE 7 10 22
CHOWAN 3 7 4
GATES 10 11 14
HERTFORD 9 6 10
NORTHAMPTON 17 11 7
TOTALS 46 45 57

Chowan – Appendix V-III 4 2/18/2021

Cattle, Total (Including Calves) – Inventory
The numbers associated with cattle are the total number of animals and total number of operations with inventory
reported at a point in time (end of December) for each census year in each county. There are no new or expanding cattle
operations in the Chowan River basin. Instead, the increase in number of operations are associated with farms that fall
below the 100 confined cattle threshold defined under North Carolina’s General Statute 143-215.10B. Therefore, these
operations are not required to obtain a permit. More information about North Carolina’s Animal Feeding Operations (AFO)
Program can be found in Chapter 7.

Total Cattle (Including Calves) Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017 % Change
2007-2012
% Change
2012-2017
% Change
2007-2017
County %
of Total
(2017)
BERTIE 607 824 725 35.7 -12.0 19.4 19.1
CHOWAN 1,196 1,293 847 8.1 -34.5 -29.2 22.3
GATES 617 792 407 28.4 -48.6 -34.0 10.7
HERTFORD 310 272 261 -12.3 -4.0 -15.8 6.9
NORTHAMPTON 1,370 961 1,558 -29.9 62.1 13.7 41.0
TOTALS 4,100 4,142 3,798 1.0 -8.3 -7.4

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20
40
60
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100
120
140
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500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
2007 2012 2017
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Cattle Inventory
(Includes Calves -End of December)
Total Inventory Number of Operations
Number of Operations with Cattle
Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017
BERTIE 22 18 23
CHOWAN 31 19 18
GATES 19 20 15
HERTFORD 9 15 7
NORTHAMPTON 34 24 51
TOTALS 115 96 114

Chowan – Appendix V-III 5 2/18/2021

VIRGINIA
Poultry (Chicken), Total – Inventory
The numbers associated with poultry are the total number of animals (broilers) and total number of operations with
inventory reported at a point in time (end of December) for each census year in each county.
Total Poultry Inventory (CHICKEN, BROILERS)
County 2007 2012 2017 % Change
2007-2012
% Change
2012-2017
% Change
2007-2017
BRUNSWICK 120 (D)
DINWIDDIE (D) (D) (D)
FRANKLIN 263 2,244 430 753.2 -80.8 63.5
GREENSVILLE (D)
ISLE OF WIGHT (D) (D) (D)
LUNENBURG 370 -100.0
PRINCE GEORGE (D) 2,745
SOUTHAMPTON 193,800 203,500 (D) 5.0
SUFFOLK CITY 136 204,894 364,350 150,557.4 77.8 267,804.4
SURRY (D) (D)
SUSSEX 103 (D)
TOTAL 194,199 411,231 367,525 111.8 -10.6 89.3
(D) Information withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual farms.

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10
20
30
40
50
60
70
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50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
2007 2012 2017
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Poultry Inventory
End of December
Total Inventory Number of Operations w/ Inventory
Number of Operations with Poultry Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017
BRUNSWICK 9 3
DINWIDDIE 1 4 2
FRANKLIN 7 17 8
GREENSVILLE 2
ISLE OF WIGHT 1 3 6
LUNENBURG 5
PRINCE GEORGE 2 6
SOUTHAMPTON 3 5 5
SUFFOLK CITY 11 9 8
SURRY 4 2 2
SUSSEX 3 2
TOTAL 27 59 44

Chowan – Appendix V-III 6 2/18/2021

Hogs, Total – Inventory
Swine/hog numbers are generally lower in the counties located entirely or partially in the basin in Virginia when compared
to North Carolina. The numbers associated with swine/hogs are the total number of animals and total number of
operations with inventory reported at a point in time (end of December) for each census year in each county.
Total Hogs Inventory

County 2007 2012 2017 % Change
2007-2012
% Change
2012-2017
% Change
2007-2017
BRUNSWICK (D) (D) (D)
DINWIDDIE 2,256 2,130 458 -5.6 -78.5 -79.7
FRANKLIN 965 298 272 -69.1 -8.7 -71.8
GREENSVILLE (D)
ISLE OF WIGHT (D) (D) 28,412
LUNENBURG (D) (D) (D)
PRINCE GEORGE 288 306 314 6.3 2.6 9.0
SOUTHAMPTON 40,019 31,687 24,375 -20.8 -23.1 -39.1
SUFFOLK CITY 8,660 1,165 1,321 -86.5 13.4 -84.7
SURRY (D) (D) (D)
SUSSEX (D) (D) (D)
TOTAL 52,188 35,586 55,152 -31.8 55.0 5.7
(D) Information withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual farms.

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120
140
160
180
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10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
2007 2012 2017
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Hog Inventory
End of December
Total Inventory Number of Operations w/ Inventory
Number of Operations with Hog Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017
BRUNSWICK 11 7 11
DINWIDDIE 23 16 31
FRANKLIN 39 26 39
GREENSVILLE 1
ISLE OF WIGHT 5 11 8
LUNENBURG 11 3 13
PRINCE GEORGE 3 3 8
SOUTHAMPTON 9 12 8
SUFFOLK CITY 35 18 19
SURRY 20 10 8
SUSSEX 2 3 5
TOTAL 158 109 151

Chowan – Appendix V-III 7 2/18/2021

Cattle, Total (Including Calves) – Inventory
The numbers associated with cattle are the total number of animals and total number of operations with inventory
reported at a point in time (end of December) for each census year in each county.
Total Cattle (Including Calves) Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017 % Change 2007-
2012
% Change 2012-
2017
% Change 2007-
2017
BRUNSWICK 8,828 5,460 5,494 -38.2 0.6 -37.8
DINWIDDIE 6,050 6,630 5,548 9.6 -16.3 -8.3
FRANKLIN 47,863 45,136 46,975 -5.7 4.1 -1.9
GREENSVILLE 994 846 1,050 -14.9 24.1 5.6
ISLE OF WIGHT 2,975 3,181 3,967 6.9 24.7 33.3
LUNENBURG 12,734 10,495 7,984 -17.6 -23.9 -37.3
PRINCE GEORGE 1,410 1,225 1,059 -13.1 -13.6 -24.9
SOUTHAMPTON 3,829 4,033 2,337 5.3 -42.1 -39.0
SUFFOLK CITY 1,230 897 527 -27.1 -41.2 -57.2
SURRY 1,544 764 1,618 -50.5 111.8 4.8
SUSSEX 1,439 1,065 969 -26.0 -9.0 -32.7
TOTAL 88,896 79,732 77,528 -10.3 -2.8 -12.8

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20,000
30,000
40,000
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70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
2007 2012 2017
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Cattle Inventory
(Includes Calves -End of December)
Total Inventory Number of Operations w/ Inventory
Number of Operations with Cattle
Inventory
County 2007 2012 2017
BRUNSWICK 153 109 99
DINWIDDIE 147 135 128
FRANKLIN 741 660 644
GREENSVILLE 34 27 35
ISLE OF WIGHT 43 38 57
LUNENBURG 189 191 152
PRINCE GEORGE 48 39 31
SOUTHAMPTON 87 58 46
SUFFOLK CITY 50 38 31
SURRY 21 21 34
SUSSEX 32 25 22
TOTAL 1,545 1,341 1,279

Chowan – Appendix V-III 8 2/18/2021

SOUTH ATLANTIC GULF-ALBEMARLE (HUC 030201)
The South Atlantic Gulf – Albemarle (HUC 030102) basin was queried to evaluate the number of operations and animals
compared to the counties located in the basin in both North Carolina and Virginia. The South Atlantic Gulf - Albemarle
includes the entire Chowan River basin and all or portions of the counties queried in North Carolina and Virginia.
Poultry (Chicken, Broilers), Total – Inventory
The numbers associated with poultry are the total number of animals (broilers) and total number of operations with
inventory reported at a point in time (end of December) for each census year in the South Atlantic Gulf-Albemarle
watershed.
2007 2012 2017 % Change
2007-2012
% Change
2012-2017
%Change
2007-2017
Number of Operations 536 520 425 -3.0 -18.3 -20.7
Number of Animals 10,838,379 11,986,236 10,013,518 10.6 -16.5 -7.6

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2007 2012 2017
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Poultry Inventory
End of December
Total Inventory Number of Operations w/ Inventory

Chowan – Appendix V-III 9 2/18/2021

Hogs, Total – Inventory
The numbers associated with swine/hogs are the total number of animals and total number of operations with inventory
reported at a point in time (end of December) for each census year in the South Atlantic Gulf-Albemarle watershed.
2007 2012 2017 % Change
2007-2012
% Change
2012-2017
%Change 2007-
2017
Number of Operations 188 125 185 -33.5 48.0 -1.6
Number of Animals 597,968 276,735 295,059 -53.7 6.6 -50.7

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2007 2012 2017
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Hog Inventory
End of December
Total Inventory Number of Operations w/ Inventory

Chowan – Appendix V-III 10 2/18/2021

Cattle, Total (Including Calves) – Inventory
The numbers associated with cattle are the total number of animals and total number of operations with inventory
reported at a point in time (end of December) for each census year in the South Atlantic Gulf-Albemarle watershed.
2007 2012 2017 % Change
2007-2012
% Change
2012-2017
%Change
2007-2017
Number of Operations 917 983 1,170 7.2 19.0 27.6
Number of Animals 41,708 44,791 59,217 7.4 32.2 42.0

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Cattle Inventory
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Total Inventory Number of Operations w/ Inventory

Chowan – Appendix V-III 11 2/18/2021

COMPARING TOTAL COUNTY NUMBERS TO BASIN (HUC 030102) NUMBERS
Five counties in North Carolina are entirely or partially located in the Chowan River basin. Eleven counties in Virginia are
entirely or partially located in the basin. Animal numbers were withheld from some of the counties in both states to avoid
disclosing information about individual farms. Because some counties are partially located in the basin, the number of
operations and number of animals (inventory) reported by county cannot be compared to the basin numbers. These
numbers can, however, be used as a way to help identify potential sources of nutrients in the basin and determine which
areas of the basin may have a higher density of animal agriculture. More in-depth analysis is needed to understand how
the number of animals and operations, fertilizer, and crop types, as well as soil, can potentially impact the amount of
nutrients in the basin.

Number of Operations & Animals
(Inventory): County Level 2007 2012 2017
Poultry Operations NC 114 131 132
Poultry Operations VA 27 59 44
Poultry Inventory NC 9,496,888 11,396,089 10,993,282
Poultry Inventory VA 194,199 411,231 367,525
Hog Operations NC 46 45 57
Hog Operations VA 158 109 151
Hog Inventory NC 292,637 130,480 133,084
Hog Inventory VA 52,188 35,586 55,152
Cattle Operations NC 115 96 114
Cattle Operations VA 1,545 1,341 1,279
Cattle Inventory NC 4,100 4,142 3,798
Cattle Inventory VA 88,896 79,732 77,528
Number of Operations & Animals
(Inventory): Basin (HUC 030102) 2007 2012 2017
Poultry Operations HUC 030102 536 520 425
Poultry Inventory HUC 030102 10,838,379 11,986,236 10,013,518
Hog Operations HUC 030102 188 125 185
Hog Inventory HUC 030102 597,968 276,735 295,059
Cattle Operations HUC 030102 917 983 1,170
Cattle Inventory HUC 030102 41,708 44,791 59,217

Chowan – Appendix V-III 12 2/18/2021

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Poultry Inventory
(Chickens, Broilers -End of December)
Poultry Inventory NC Poultry Inventory VA Poultry Inventory HUC 030102
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2007 2012 2017
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Hog Inventory
(End of December)
Hog Inventory NC Hog Inventory VA Hog Inventory HUC 030102
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2007 2012 2017
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Cattle Inventory
(Including Calves -End of December)
Cattle Inventory NC Cattle Inventory VA Cattle Inventory HUC 030102