Learn about poultry litter management, alternatives

How litter is managed before, during, and after each flock is a key factor for successful poultry growers. Litter management starts with the previous flock, and management of litter is critical between flocks.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2607352555140873986?linknumber=website to attend “Litter management between flocks & switchgrass bedding,” a webinar presented by WATT Global Media. This is the second webinar in the Poultry Grower Webinar Series. The webinar will be held Wednesday, September 9 at 10 a.m.
U.S. broiler growers almost exclusively use built-up litter in their houses and this webinar will address how to successfully manage built-up litter. Pine shavings have been the bedding of choice for most of the U.S. poultry industry for several decades, but it is often in short supply. Learn about how Giant Miscanthus (switchgrass) may provide a renewable bedding alternative that producers can grow on their own land.
By attending this webinar, you will learn:


• Strategies for controlling ammonia
• Ways to control litter moisture levels
• How switchgrass performs as a poultry house bedding material
Speakers for this webinar will be Dr. Casey Ritz, professor at University of Georgia, and Dr. Jesse Grimes, professor at North Carolina State University.
Ritz has been an extension poultry specialist for more than two decades, working with broiler producers on house management, environmental and waste management.  His primary focus has been the development of educational and research programs with emphasis on poultry production management and environmental issues involving waste management, nutrient management planning, and water and air quality. He received his B.S. in zoology and M.S. in animal science from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. in poultry science from Virginia Tech.
Grimes is an extension specialist who also conducts research and teaches. He has worked with producers on the effect of management on turkey and broiler production, reproduction, and waste handling. His research activities include examining various rearing methods and feeding regimens for the production of market and breeder turkeys to determine optimum management practices. He is also interested in methods to reduce fecal and litter nutrients of turkeys and broilers. He received B.S. degrees in wildlife biology and poultry science, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in nutrition, all from North Carolina State. Prior to attending graduate school, he worked for three years for Perdue Farms as a broiler service supervisor.

Using litter amendments during broiler grow-out beneficial

Researchers at the University of Delaware, led by Dr. Hong Li, recently completed a research project funded by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) Foundation in which they field tested a novel method to apply a litter amendment at various times throughout the life of broiler flocks. The research project showed that more frequent applications of the litter amendment during grow-out not only reduced ammonia emissions but also improved live production parameters, improved foot pad quality, and reduced Salmonella isolations from the litter.
The poultry industry is concerned about the emission of ammonia from poultry houses because of the potential effects on live performance, poultry health and welfare, and the environment. Litter amendments have become a standard tool for reducing ammonia emissions from poultry houses but the use of litter amendments has been largely restricted to application prior to flock placement.
Assisting Li with the research were Dr. Eric Benson, Dr. Rolf Joerger, Dr. Kali Kniel, Dr. Pei Chiu and Dr. Yan Jin, all from the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.
A detailed summary of the research project can be found on the USPOULTRY website.
The project is part of the USPOULTRY comprehensive research program encompassing all phases of poultry and egg production and processing.

Triea Systems named 'Sustainable Tech Company of the Year'

Triea Systems LLC, a firm focusing on acquiring, developing and commercializing technologies that conserve energy and reduce pollution, has been named Sustainable Tech Company of the Year by Howard County Economic Development Authority’s Howard Technology Council (HTC). With seven recognized companies, and awards in categories ranging from sustainable tech to cybersecurity, each will be featured during this year’s HTC 2014 Howard Tech Awards ceremony at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab Kossiakoff Center Wednesday, May 28.
The Howard Tech Awards program began in 2008 and is designed to recognize technology companies that are fueling innovation in Howard County, Md. The HTC Tech Awards judging panel evaluated nominated businesses based on three criteria:


• Demonstrated leadership in the business and tech community
• Technological innovation
• Community support
Triea Systems offers a heat exchange system that allows the transfer of heat from existing sources rather than burning fossil fuels. Poultry producers have an abundant source of heat: composting chicken litter. The heat exchange system extracts this organically-created heat and transfers it to a farmer’s poultry houses, warming the birds and eliminating the need to burn propane.
“Our Howard Tech annual awards judges overwhelmingly selected Triea Systems as the award recipient in the sustainable technology sector,” said Patrick Wynn, executive director of the HTC in a Triea Systems press release. “I am impressed with Triea System’s commitment to producing solutions that help both animal agriculture and commercial and government building infrastructure segments operate more efficiently and dramatically reduce their collective annual spend on fossil fuels for heating.”
“We’re extremely proud of this award and for being recognized among peer companies in the region for advancing energy sustainability and environmental stewardship”, said Chris Haug, Triea Systems CEO. “The Howard Tech Council’s acknowledgement of Triea Systems certainly gives tremendous credence to our business plan and philosophy, including our ‘green’ solutions for efficiently recovering and generating heat and commercializing a process to significantly reduce phosphates and other nutrients in animal waste,” Haug added.

MSU, Repreve Renewables developing alternative broiler litter

In recent years, broiler producers have found it increasingly difficult and expensive to find consistent litter materials. According to Dr. Jeremiah Davis of Mississippi State University (MSU), speaking March 19 at the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention (MPF) in St. Paul, Minn., there is great potential in the Southeastern United States to grow large volumes of grass materials from which to source alternative bedding materials.
In the past, studies have been conducted on alternatives to pine bedding, such as rice hulls, peanut hulls, corn stover and bagasse. Other alternatives have included chopped cereal straws such as barley and wheat; paper products, such as newspaper; and sand and gypsum. But, Davis said, there are caking problems with barley and wheat straws and gypsum. Supplies of newspapers are dwindling as more newspapers abandon their print products, and sand litter makes it more difficult to heat the poultry house.
"Our gold standard has been pine shavings over the years," Davis said. But other options may be viable alternatives, studies have found.
In exploring other alternative litter materials, the focus has been on Bermuda grass, switchgrass and giant miscanthus. The latter has offered great promise, Davis said, and MSU has collaborated with Repreve Renewables LLC to grow and study Repreve's Freedom giant miscanthus feedstock for use as poultry litter.
For the Repreve project, growers contract with the company to custom plant the crop - which at full production can yield 14 tons per acre - and manage it based on the company's recommendations. The crop is evaluated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and several universities. Davis said invasiveness is not a risk because the crop is sterile, there is not live plant in the bedding material, and all the chopped material is dead. Davis said the potential for large volume production of Freedom is higher than the other materials tested.
Freedom giant miscanthus is being grown and tested in Alabama, and Davis believes the plant is almost ready for commercial sale and use.
"This stuff is really at the state of full commercial utilization here," Davis said during the Poultry Litter Management Workshop at MPF.
The floor pen trials compared live production and processing characteristics of large broilers using chopped switchgrass, chopped Bermuda grass and pine shavings. The chopped grasses worked the best when they were kept to one inch in length. Litter was spread in floor pens 3.5 inches deep. Day-old chicks were placed on the litter and were processed at 49 days.
The studies measured the birds' body weight, feed conversion, carcass weight and foot pad condition scores. Birds in each trial performed similarly in each measurement, however, ammonia levels were noticeably lower in houses that used Freedom giant miscanthus, Davis said. He also noted there were fewer footpad downgrades with birds raised on chopped grass litter.
Another benefit of the chopped grass litter includes cost savings associated with transport and drying of litter materials because the chopped grasses have a lower moisture content than green pine shavings.

Potential governor candidate explores turning chicken litter to energy

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, an assumed 2014 candidate for governor, visited Maryland's Salisbury University in an effort to learn how to cleanly and economically convert poultry litter into energy. Gansler wants to know how to get rid of large amounts of poultry litter without harming water or air quality but still being profitable, according to news sources.
He passed out a list of possible solutions, including credit multipliers for utility companies that purchase renewable energy from Chesapeake watershed farm waste, farm renewable energy credits and long-term state support for projects that convert chicken litter to energy on the Delmarva Peninsula.
Gansler is a Democrat serving in his second term as attorney general.
Martin O'Malley, Maryland's current governor who is also a Democrat, earlier in 2013 showed his support for energy converted from poultry litter. On January 19, he announced that the state and the University of Maryland agreed to buy up to 10 megawatts of electricity from a proposed power plant in Federalsburg, Md., that uses poultry litter as its primary fuel. 

Perdue wins approval to build compost facility in Delaware

A Perdue Farms subsidiary won approval from the Sussex County Council to build a chicken litter compost facility, according to the Delaware Online. The facility, in western Sussex County, Del. would decompose litter, sawdust and dropping into a nutrient-soil that Perdue could sell to landscapers or farmers.
The compost will be covered by a breathable fabric that will let air and some humidity escape the piles while keeping the rain out. The plan could help reduce water pollution caused by nitrogen and phosphorus.  

Perdue AgriRecycle cleans up poultry industry, image

Since its inception in 2001, Perdue AgriRecycle has helped rid poultry producers of more than 860,000 tons of litter and converted the waste into usable organic products.
Through the AgriRecycle operation, Perdue Farms goes to poultry growing operations and removes the waste free of charge, Perdue Farms Chairman Jim Perdue said at the Poultry Processor Workshop on May 15.  Once the litter is converted, rather than being a potential contaminant to the area water supply, it becomes a helpful resource for companies like Scotts, Espoma, Davisson Golf and Wedgworth that make lawn and garden fertilizer products.

Helping producers protect resources, operations
One of the biggest environmental issues the poultry industry faces is what to do with litter. In Maryland, where Perdue Farms has multiple operations, there are strict regulations on how waste is managed and kept away from water sources.
Perdue cited a case where the Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental group, filed a lawsuit against Hudson Farms, one of Perdue's growers. The alliance alleged waste from the Hudson property was polluting the Chesapeake Bay and Pocomoke River. Though the suit did have a near-devastating impact on the Hudson operation at the time, it was eventually dropped by the court.
Perdue AgriRecycle seeks to help poultry producers avoid that type of turmoil, Perdue said.

Benefits go beyond bottom line
The AgriRecyle venture has not yet been directly profitable, but Perdue believes it has helped the company's overall image. The judge who heard the Hudson case is one person in particular who now has a better perception of Perdue Farms, Perdue said.
"The judge was very impressed. Sometimes there are side benefits," he said.
It is increasingly important for poultry processors to have endeavors that protect the environment, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is good for the image of the companies and the industry as a whole.
"Consumers, customers and communities are the new regulators in our industry," Perdue said. "They want to know what you're doing to impact the environment, locally and/or in a bigger way."

Share the good news
Acting in an environmentally responsible way is only half of the job. Perdue urged processors to share stories about the good things they are doing, just as he did during the workshop.
"People trust farmers, but they don't necessarily trust agribusiness. Our job is to get the word out," Perdue said. "It is a changing world. Somebody will define you, unless you go out and actively define yourself."

Maryland agrees to buy poultry litter power

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley announced January 25 that the state and the University of Maryland have agreed to buy up to 10 megawatts of electricity from a proposed Federalsburg, Md., power plant that uses poultry litter as its primary fuel.
The deal is expected to save the state up to $80 million over the life of the 15-year agreement. State officials say the proposed plant will also help reduce farm runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.
O'Malley announced in October 2012 that the state was seeking proposals for the purchase of electricity as part of the Clean Bay Power project to promote the use of renewable energy, to reduce runoff and to encourage job creation.
"Maryland is leading the nation's efforts in clean energy and sustainability, and our state's growing green jobs sector is vital to our ability to create jobs and compete globally in the new economy," said O'Malley. "It's only through a diverse, renewable fuel mix that we will be able to reach our aggressive goal of generating 20 percent renewable energy by 2022, create jobs through innovation and protect our precious environment."

Research shows benefits of windrowing broiler litter

The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the USPOULTRY Foundation have completed a funded research project at the University of Arkansas on the production and environmental benefits of windrowing broiler litter.
The project is part of the association's comprehensive research program encompassing all phases of poultry and egg production and processing. A complete report, along with information on other association research, may be obtained by going to USPOULTRY's website.
Dr. Yi Liang, University of Arkansas, and a group of researchers from the University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State University and Mississippi State University, recently completed a research project, funded by USPOULTRY, which evaluated the effect of in-house broiler litter windrowing on several important production and environmental factors. Potential pathogens, such as Clostridium spp. and E. coli, were reduced below detection limits after windrowing. The moisture content of litter was reduced significantly by windrowing and the quality of the paws (paw score) improved in the windrowed houses. Water soluble phosphorous levels were very similar in windrowed and non-windrowed litter. Windrowing did not eliminate ammonia emissions from the litter.
Overall, the windrow process provided a positive effect to most of the parameters studied and provided no negative effects. It provides producers an option for reducing potential pathogens in the broiler house, reducing litter moisture, and improving paw quality.

Oklahoma brings back tax credits for poultry litter purchases

Buyers of poultry litter produced within environmentally sensitive Oklahoma watersheds and transported elsewhere will be able to claim a state tax credit for part of their 2012 transactions.
Tax credits for such purchases began in 2005 as a way to protect streams, rivers and lakes from nutrient overloading, which leads to the degradation of water quality. The program was suspended in 2010, but has since resumed.
Eligible buyers can claim the credit of $10 a ton for the 2012 tax reporting period for purchases made after June 30. The credit applies only to litter purchased from Oklahoma poultry feeding operations within nutrient-limited watersheds and registered with the state.Officials of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture's environmental management service said the litter also must be applied by licensed poultry waste applicators. To qualify for the credit, applications must be made in watersheds that are not environmentally sensitive.
Because of the two-year moratorium, no credits may be claimed for litter purchases made between July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2012. If the tax credit exceeds the income tax owed by an eligible buyer, the unused credit may be carried over for up to five years.
Local nutrient limited watersheds from which litter purchases qualify for the tax credit include the Illinois River and the Eucha-Spavinaw watersheds. Both have been at the center of legal battles over pollution caused by the excessive litter applications within those watersheds or the failure to contain the wastes.
Josh Payne, an animal waste management specialist with the Oklahoma State University Extension Office in Muskogee and an adjunct assistant professor, told the Muskogee Phoenix the demand for poultry wastes typically fluctuates with the price of commercial fertilizers. Payne said it is difficult to calculate any impact the moratorium might have had on poultry waste transfers.
"I don't think we've seen a significant decline in the amount of poultry litter being bought and transferred outside the nutrient limited watersheds," he said. "But I do know the credit was certainly missed by the producers who utilize it. I consider it a great subsidy to transport litter outside these watersheds - it is the only current subsidy we have."
Regulators who track the production and transfer of poultry wastes within the state reported in 2012 that 88 percent of the material generated within the Illinois River watershed in 2010 was exported outside the basin. Of the 65,010 tons of poultry waste produced within the watershed that year, 7,774 tons were applied within the basin, and 57,236 tons were transported to other sites in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas.

Ireland calls for alternative poultry litter solutions

Ireland's Agriculture Minister Michelle O'Neill and Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster have launched a small business research initiative competition designed to find alternative, sustainable ways to use poultry litter that they hope will both meet the requirements of the EU Nitrates and Water Framework Directives and support industry development.
"Having met with a range of stakeholders, I believe there are potential options that should be tested," said O'Neill. The buying power of the public is expected to be a key driver of innovation in the competition.

"The broiler poultry sector in Northern Ireland is a significant part of the local economy, sustaining on-farm employment for over 1,400 people, with a further 4,600 people employed in processing, and generating over 14 percent of the gross output of the local agriculture sector," said Foster. "The launch of this [small business research initiative] competition is therefore an important step forward in helping to address this major issue to ensure the sustainability of the local poultry sector and its growth."

Poultry litter heat recovery system could save energy costs

A new system that recovers heat from poultry litter could save on energy costs and have positive environmental benefits, according to reports from its initial users.
The system takes the heat the litter generates while composting and transfers it into the chicken houses, reducing the amount of propane normally used to warm the barns, according to Triea Systems Inc., the system's creator. This can save roughly 70 percent on heating costs, said company owner Jim O'Brien.
There could be possible environmental benefits, according to Will Taylor of Cottage Hill Farm, a facility using the heat recovery system. "If you take the litter straight out of the chicken house, you get a lot of gassing off of ammonia and nitrogen,” said Taylor. “Once you compost it and make it more stable, you reduce that, also. So there’s several ways you can improve the litter environmentally, just by stacking and composting.”
A new heat recovery system costs around $80,000 per chicken house. But with the energy savings, the costs will be fully recouped within five years, said Mike Hesse, Triea’s regional system engineer. “We know that the system performs,” said Hesse. “Now we just want to make it more efficient for the farmer.”

University of North Dakota leading poultry waste energy project

A collaboration led by the University of North Dakota's Energy & Environmental Research Center is looking at whether poultry waste can be converted to energy and other byproducts using an advanced fixed-bed gasifier.
The project, being conducted in cooperation with DenYon Energy and the U.S. Department of Energy, will begin with several weeks of pilot-scale tests to assess efficiency and performance of the system. Both poultry litter and other waste materials from the industry will be tested as fuel. Ultimately, the test will be able to identify the barriers and challenges that need to be overcome to bring the technology to commercial scale, according to the researchers.
“We are trying to achieve a complete solution for the poultry industry with this distributed energy technology,” said Nikhil Patel, research scientist, project manager and inventor of the technology. “A distributed-scale energy and by-product recovery process is an emerging need in the poultry industry. This project can lead to environmental and economic sustainability by helping a major food processing industry eliminate waste and become more energy self-reliant.”
If the technology works, it is estimated that a farm generating 3,000 tons a year of waste could produce about 280 kilowatts of power, enough to supply all the electricity needed for one year for nearly 150 average-sized homes.

Alternative litter material research continues for poultry industry

Dr. Jesse Grimes

Cost and availability will ultimately determine the adoption of a new or alternative litter material by poultry growers and the poultry industry, according to Dr. Jesse Grimes, North Carolina University, presenting at the Poultry Litter Management Workshop at the 2012 Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
As the poultry industry in the United States has grown and expanded, the availability of litter materials has been challenged. Grimes examined all available research completed on poultry litter and bedding since 2002.
Results from twelve different studies were reviewed to determine if a material is a good bedding source. Several factors help determine if a material is a good bedding source, including: absorbency, drying time, whether the material is contaminant-free, its purpose after use as a bedding material, and whether or not it is cost competitive with current materials utilized.
Alternative litter materials for poultry will continue to be researched and evaluated.  Local materials and suppliers are going to play a crucial role in the search for alternative bedding materials for the poultry industry. While bird performance will always be a threshold criterion, if the litter is difficult to obtain or not cost competitive with current materials utilized, it will not be used at litter material.

Companies propose poultry litter fueled facility

Perdue AgriBusiness Inc. and Fibrowatt LLC recently submitted a proposal for Maryland’s Clean Bay Power Project that calls for constructing a boiler operation that runs off of poultry litter, according to a report. The proposed facility at the Perdue AgriBusiness Zion Church Road complex will provide 10 megawatts of electricity to the state as well as up to 70,000 pounds per hour of steam to the Perdue complex. The main fuel sources will be poultry litter and layer hen manure, among other local biomass. Perdue AgriBusiness, a direct exporter of U.S. agricultural commodities, is the largest buyer of poultry litter in Maryland, while Fibrowatt specializes in developing and operating poultry-litter-fueled power plants in the UK and in the U.S. 

Maryland pursues electricity from poultry litter

Gov. Martin O'Malley recently announced Maryland’s "Clean Bay Power Project" -- a new plan to buy power generated from animal manure, according to a local news report.
Poultry litter from Eastern Shore chicken farms now has the opportunity to supply the state with environmentally friendly electricity from litter.
Those seeking to provide the manure-generated power must be:

• able to generate up to 10 megawatts,
• connected to the regional electricity grid,
• able to generate electricity by December 31, 2015 and
• able to submit bids by November 30.

Poultry project aims to turn manure into energy

A pilot project to convert chicken manure into electricity is the focus of $1 million in grants given to the Eastern Shore Resource Conservation and Development Council.
The project will be based on an 11-house broiler operation in Melfa, Va., and also explores the potential to use the phosphorus-rich byproduct of the process as a fertilizer source. "The overall idea is, you've got this source of chicken litter — what could it be used for?" said P.G. Ross, chairman of the RC&D Council. "One idea was to combust it and use it to generate electricity."
Funding for the project includes a $421,650 Conservation Innovation Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. Another $210,000 will come from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, along with $301,000 in equipment and other contributions from Farm Pilot Project Coordination Inc., a Tampa, Fla.-based non-profit that oversees administration of projects to show the economic viability of technologies that reduce nutrients in manure from commercial animal farming operations.
Construction is scheduled to begin in spring of 2012, and data will be collected throughout the three-year project.

Study: Choice of litter material affects salmonella found in poultry flocks

Researchers at the Department of Animal Sciences from Georg-August-University in Göttingen in Germany conducted a study on the effects of four types of litter material on the frequency of salmonella in broilers, finding that wood shavings showed the highest prevalence.
Four different materials — peat, chopped straw, woods shavings and silage — were tested. With three samples out of six samples being positive, wood shavings showed the highest salmonella prevalence, followed by peat with two positive results. Corn silage was found to be a suitable alternative for common litter materials and revealed only one positive sample. Chopped straw was found to be free of salmonella in the study; however, it had a higher risk for negative side effects concerning animal health and house climate.

Virginia studying poultry litter as energy source

Virginia state officials are looking into using poultry litter as an alternative way to generate electricity and help Shenandoah Valley poultry farmers dispose of animal waste.
The Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Conservation and Recreation have partnered to study the possibility of a power plant that would convert poultry waste into electricity. The goal, according to Environmental Quality spokesman Bill Hayden, is to reduce nutrient pollution in a way that doesn't contribute to air pollution.

Poultry Federation funds ODAFF jobs

The Poultry Federation has stepped in to prevent the elimination of two positions within the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF).
The two part-time jobs are held by two former soil scientists who develop plans for land owners that are designed to regulate the method, timing and rate that poultry litter is used as a fertilizer. The positions were due to be removed due to state budget cuts, but the Poultry Federation stepped in with a $43,000 grant. "Those of us who work in the poultry industry are serious about our responsibility as environmental stewards and we value ODAFF's efforts to make sure poultry litter is properly used," said Poultry Federation President Marvin Childers. "The state's role in writing nutrient management plans is very important to the poultry farmers and others who use litter as an organic fertilizer on the farm land."
The current grant agreement allows for the possibility of an extension of funds for a maximum of three additional years.