Oct. 5, 2023 www.investigatemidwest.org Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Factory bird farms disrupting eastern Oklahoma
More than anything, Beth and Clayton Williams felt forgotten, felt ignored.
The couple were no strangers to farm life — she grew up on a farm, and he was a longtime agriculture teacher. However, they considered the large industrial poultry farm that opened across the street from their Delaware County, Okla., home to be more factory than farm. Foul smells, flies and loud noises from the 300,000-bird operation had invaded their peaceful country life.
No one seemed to listen. Not the lawmakers, not the large poultry companies.
In the latest story from Investigate Midwest, the Claytons and other residents of east Oklahoma shared how the recent growth in large chicken farms was impacting their way of life, and how the state’s permitting system allows for industrial farms to be built close to homes and waterways.
— Ben Felder, Oklahoma reporter
Oklahoma’s permit system ushered in new wave of industrial poultry farm growth
By Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest
The poultry farm across the street from the Dozhiers' home — less than two and a half football fields away from their front door — would not have been allowed to be built if it were registered as a concentrated animal feeding operation, also called a CAFO.
Read more.
GRAPHIC: How the rail industry’s shrinking workforce is impacting wheat production
By Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest
Among the biggest challenges to hit the nation’s wheat industry in recent years — global instability, drought and inflation — a diminished railroad sector has been one of the most costly.
See the graphic.
Related news from our partners
In Minnesota, families blame farm nutrient contamination for heavy cancer toll
Among the four families who lived for decades along County Road B near Berne, Minn., 12 people developed cancer and seven died. Brian Bennerotte was one of three people who developed lymphoma. The disease nearly killed him in 1983 when he was 20 years old. His father and three brothers would not survive their own bouts with cancer.
Read more.
The Mississippi River has reached near-historic lows for the second year in a row, which is slowing down shipping and driving up costs for everyone from barge companies to grain elevators. Read more.
This story is by the Memphis Delphian and is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, funded by the Walton Family Foundation. Investigate Midwest is a partner.
