ABSTRACT
Northwest Arkansas leads the nation in poultry production. Washington and Benton Counties are in turn the two largest poultry producing counties in the region. The poultry industry is vertically integrated. In broiler production, the processors own the birds and contract with farmers to raise the birds to slaughter size. The processors deliver chicks to the farmer's broiler houses and deliver feed for the birds throughout the production cycle. The land use conflicts between poultry production and residential development are largely unregulated in Northwest Arkansas at the present time. Land application of dry poultry waste does not currently require a permit from either the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology. Agricultural zoning is a remedy available to local governments in Northwest Arkansas to reduce land use conflicts between poultry production and residential development.
