The Impact of Hog Farming on Land Value and Real Estate in North Carolina

Concentrated Animal Farming Operations (CAFOs) have been the culprit of rampant pollution water, noise, and air pollution for decades, leading to chronic health conditions, environmental racism, and decreased lifespans. While researchers have extensively researched these aspects of CAFOs, the economic impact of CAFOs on nearby real estate remains an elusive and novel area of research. This study aims to explore the correlation between the proximity of a parcel of land to a CAFO and the value of the parcel, with a specific focus on laying a foundation for future studies to develop a stronger understanding of the relationship and potentially establish a causative relationship. Using data from the North Carolina counties of Duplin, Sampson, Wayne, Bladen, Greene, Lenoir, Pender, Johnson, Onslow, Robeson, Jones, Columbus, Pitt, Edgecombe, Craven, Cumberland, and Nash from North Carolina's OneMap dataset and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's List of Permitted Animal Operations, this study aims to understand the relationship between the distance to the nearest CAFO and parcel value. To do so, we utilized the two dataset's location data to generate log-linear regression models to explore the relationship between the variables and remove the confounding variable associated with parcel acreage. We found land value to increase as the distance to the nearest CAFO increases at two different time points, establishing a correlation between the two variables. However, we could not find conclusive statistics to establish a causative relationship between the two variables. Thus, this study lays the foundation for a novel field that requires further research to develop a stronger relationship between the two variables and to decrease the internal sources of errors due to unaccounted confounding variables due to the particular datasets utilized.