Troxler: Hog farm judgment will 'harm' NC agriculture

"I am very disappointed in the verdict and believe it will harm our hard-working farm families who produce food for the state, nation and the world. I fear this will have a detrimental effect on their ability to continue to do that," Troxler said in a statement. "Family farms built this state, and our family farms are vital to our state’s economy."

Rural residents have complained for decades about smells and clouds of flies from large-scale hog operations, as well as excessive spraying of effluent on nearby fields. Neighbors say the spraying sends the smells and animal waste airborne, allowing it to drift into their homes and sometimes coat outdoor surfaces on their properties.

"When I go out to the mailbox, flies follow me back to the barbershop, and the smell is terrible," said Carl Lewis, who runs a barbershop in the area and whose sister was among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

"[She] can't cook out like she used to – flies, bad smell," he said.

Lewis said he doesn't want to shut the hog farms down, but Smithfield needs to pay up for the years of suffering among area residents.

"Folks need jobs," he said. "I'm pretty sure there is some type of filter or something that can reduce the smell and something to curb some of those flies."

The judgment was the first in more than two dozen lawsuits filed by more than 500 neighbors complaining about various hog operations.