The largest portion of Alabama's rapidly growing poultry industry is geographically concentrated in the Sand Mountain region of northern Alabama. The result is that large amounts of waste are applied to relatively small areas of agricultural soils. A study was conducted to determine the effects of long‐term broiler waste (litter) application on environmentally related soil conditions in the region. The region has an average annual rainfall of 1325 mm, which is evenly distributed throughout the year, a thermic temperature regime, and soils in the region are of the Ultisol order. In each of four major broiler‐producing counties, three pairs of sites consisting of long‐term (15–28 yr) littered and nonlittered fields on matching soil series and maintained under perennial tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) were sampled. Soil cores were taken to 3 m or lithic contact and depth‐incremented samples (0–15, 15–30, and each subsequent 30‐cm interval) were analyzed for organic C, total N, NO3‐N, pH, electrical conductivity, and acid‐extractable P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, and Zn. Litter application increased organic C and total N to depths of 15 and 30 cm, respectively, as compared with nonlittered soils, whereas pH was 0.5 units higher to a depth of 60 cm under littered soils. Significant accumulation of NO3‐N was found in littered soils to or near bedrock. Extractable P concentrations in littered soils were more than six times greater than in nonlittered soils to a depth of 60 cm. Elevated levels of extractable K, Ca, and Mg to depths greater than 60 cm also were found as a result of long‐term litter use. Extractable Cu and Zn had accumulated in littered soils to a depth of 45 cm. These findings indicate that long‐term land application of broiler litter, at present rates, has altered soil chemical conditions and has created a potential for adverse environmental impacts in the Sand Mountain region of Alabama.
Alabama's poultry industry is most heavily concentrated in the Sand Mountain region of northern Alabama. Disposal of litter (manure and bedding material) generated from poultry production in the region is typically accomplished by land‐spreading onto tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) pastures. We conducted a study in four major poultry producing counties in the Sand Mountain region to determine the effects of long‐term litter use on soil and plant conditions related to pasture production and forage quality. Soil samples from 0 to 6 in. depth and plant tissue samples were collected from tall fescue pastures receiving annual applications of litter for 15 to 28 yr (littered) or not receiving such applications (nonlittered). These samples were analyzed for soil pH and organic matter, plant nitrate‐N, soil and plant total N, and extractable P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn. Results point to higher soil pH, soil organic matter, and total N in soils receiving long‐term litter applications. Extractable soil P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, and Zn were higher in littered than in nonlittered pastures. Tissue analysis showed that litter applications increased forage concentrations of N, nitrate‐N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Cu as compared with forage from nonlittered pastures. The ratio K/(Ca + Mg) in plant tissue, associated with grass tetany potential, was higher in littered than in nonlittered pastures, but did not exceed the commonly accepted threshold value of 2.2. Our findings indicate that long‐term poultry litter application to tall fescue pastures has caused an accumulation of nutrients in soils and plants, but there was no evidence that this accumulation has created a forage quality problem. Research Question Alabama's large poultry industry generates enormous amounts of waste or litter (manure and bedding material) that is typically disposed of by spreading onto tall fescue pastures. Although use of poultry litter as a fertilizer for pasture can provide yields comparable to commercial fertilizers, long‐term use at heavy application rates may reduce pasture productivity through an oversupply of nutrients. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of long‐term land application of poultry litter on soil and plant tissue elemental concentrations of tall fescue pastures, and the implications for pasture productivity in the Sand Mountain region of north Alabama. Literature Summary Pasture productivity is determined by the level of sustainable animal production, and is affected by plant species, soil fertility, and animal management. Animal health problems owing to grazing of tall fescue heavily fertilized with poultry litter have been reported in the agronomic and animal science literature. The most frequently noted litter use problems are bovine fat necrosis and nitrate toxicity, which are associated with high levels of N use, and grass tetany, which has been related to heavy land‐application of potassium. Few studies, however, have investigated on‐farm soil and plant conditions related to pasture productivity fo...
While elevated concentrations of N and P have been observed in surface runoff from broiler litter‐amended fields, impacts of other nutrients in broiler litter such as Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Cu, and Zn have not been identified. A study was conducted on a 4% slope during 1991 to 1993 at Belle Mina, AL, on a Decatur silty clay (clayey, kaolinitic, thermic Rhodic Paleudult) to determine effects of broiler litter (BL) on seasonal transport losses of nutrients and heavy metals in surface water. A corn (Zea mays L.)‐winter rye (Secale cereale L.) cropping system was fertilized with either: (i) 9 Mg BL ha−1 (BL9), (ii) 18 Mg BL ha−1 (BL18), or (iii) commercial fertilizer at the recommended rate (CF). Runoff water samples were collected after each runoff producing rainfall event. Litter treatments decreased sediment flow‐weighted concentrations during the second corn growing season owing to residual broiler litter. Flow‐weighted concentrations of NO3‐N and NH4‐N were highest under BL18 during the second corn season. Total P and dissolved P flow‐weighted concentrations and seasonal transport losses were highest under BL18 during the second corn season. Sediment nutrient flow‐weighted concentrations of K, Mg, and Mn were highest under CF during the second corn season. Dissolved nutrient flow‐weighted concentrations of Ca, K, and Mg were highest under BL18 during the second corn season. Nutrient flow‐weighted concentrations, except Ca, from all treatments provide adequate levels to support algae growth.
Core Ideas Additional N can enhance cereal cover crop biomass production and maximize benefits. Cover crop N fertilizer recovery efficiency averaged 37% across all treatments. Commercial N fertilizer increased biomass for less money compared to poultry litter. Winter cereal cover crops are necessary to achieve maximum benefits of conservation tillage in the southeastern United States. These benefits generally increase as cover crop biomass increases; therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate N application times, sources, and optimal rates to maximize cover crop biomass production at Headland, AL, on a Fuquay sand (loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Arenic Plinthic Kandiudults) during the 2006–2008 growing seasons. Treatments were arranged in a split‐split plot treatment restriction in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Main plots were time of fertilizer application (fall and spring), subplots were N source (commercial fertilizer and poultry [Gallus gallus domesticus] litter), and sub‐subplots were N rate (0, 34, 67, and 101 kg N ha−1 as commercial fertilizer and 0, 2.2, 4.5, and 6.7 Mg ha−1 as poultry litter [as‐sampled basis]) for a cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop. Commercial fertilizer produced 13% greater biomass compared to poultry litter across all rates and application times. Lower biomass production and higher costs for poultry litter reduced the feasibility of poultry litter as an N source compared with commercial N. Higher C/N ratios were measured for fall‐applied N compared to spring‐applied N, while N fertilizer recovery efficiency (REN) averaged 37% across the experiment. Results indicated fall application of commercial fertilizer N produced superior results across cover crop responses examined in this study, while providing general information about N fertilizer requirements to increase surface residue associated with cover crops across the southeastern United States.
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