Hog farming after hurricanes

Hog farming is huge in North Carolina. It brings in over 2 billion dollars to the state annually. But hog farming isn’t the cleanest business, and recent hurricanes, like Florence, have put the industry, at risk. Reporter Colleen Brown visited Overman Farms in Goldsboro to learn about hog lagoons, how they are in danger of flooding, and how farmers combat the issue.

The Overmans have been farming in Goldsboro for so long that the road the farmhouse is on bears their family name. As with many people in eastern North Carolina, farming is the Overman’s livelihood and their passion. Both were severely tested when Hurricane Florence hit the Goldsboro area on September 14, 2018, followed quickly by Hurricane Michael on October 11, 2018. As the ground softened due to the massive amounts of rain brought by the storm, several large trees fell into farmed fields and farm access roads, fields suffered from massive amounts of erosion and low areas of cropland became inundated, destroying thousands of dollars’ worth of product. Lorenda Overman, wife of farmer Harrell Overman is a member of the Women’s Committee for the Wayne County Farm Bureau, the past chair for the NC Farm Bureau State Women’s Committee, and serves as a member of the American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee – representing the Southern Region. Her estimate of the overall worth of the crops lost due to flooding after the hurricanes is $300,000. Despite the loss of income in the fields, the Overman’s pig farm survived Florence and Michael without a scratch.

Colleen Brown

Colleen Brown is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel, majoring in broadcast journalism with a minor in creative writing. She is from Raleigh, NC, and has interned with Buchanan Public Relations in Philadelphia. Colleen hopes to work as an in-house broadcaster for a professional sports team.