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The days of the "family farm" are practically gone. More and more, intensive livestock operations -- where animals are packed side by side and fed to market weight as quickly as possible -- are the norm. In some states, the livestock population has dramatically increased during the past 10 years. For example, the hog population in North Carolina has rocketed from 2.5 million in 1987 to almost 10 million today. And even as the number of livestock has increased, the number of farms has decreased as factory operations have dominated the market. Such changes are occurring in many states, and the increase in the number of intensive livestock operations is often due to a lack of regulations or zoning requirements at the state and local level.
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