Picture this: 2.5 billion pounds of soil-like fertilizer. And
it’s not enough.

“There’s just not enough chicken litter in Georgia to fertilize
all the crops we grow
here,” said Stan Savage, a poultry scientist with the University
of Georgia Extension
Service.

Georgia farmers grew 2.53 million acres of cotton, corn and hay
in 1996. All of that
land required fertilizer in some form. Many farmers chose
chicken litter.

But even if they could have used all the litter produced last
year, they still could have
adequately fertilized only one-third of the cotton.

Why do farmers want chicken litter instead of commercially
prepared fertilizers?

“It holds more moisture, releases its nitrogen more slowly and
can be much more
economical,” Savage said.

Pound for pound, litter contains about one-fifth of the
nutrients of blended commercial
fertilizer. If farmers can buy and spread litter for less than
$25 per ton, Savage said,
they’re coming out ahead of the game.

“Some south Georgia farmers are even buying litter from north
Georgia poultry farms
and hauling it to their farms,” he said. “They’re still coming
out better with litter.”

Litter produced today has about half as much moisture as it did
five to 10 years ago, he
said. Nutrients in the drier litter are more economical to buy
and haul.

Glen Harris, an extension environmental fertilizers and soils
specialist, said farmers
should use litter straight from the broiler house for best
results. Gardeners should
compost it to use in gardens and landscapes.

Litter for farm use is usually worked into the soil before
planting, he said. Raw litter
can burn tender landscape and garden plants if not used very
carefully.

“Anyone planning to use chicken litter should test their soil in
the fall,” Harris said,
“and test the litter to make sure they’re adding the nutrients
their crops need.”

Savage said just a few years ago, some poultry farmers were
giving away litter. Over
the past five years, more poultry farms have sprung up,
especially in south Georgia.

There are problems keeping the litter from
accumulating. “Although there isn’t enough
litter to go around,” Harris said, “there are problems keeping
it spread out due to the
economics of hauling.”

Georgia farmers now raise about 14 percent of the broiler
chickens grown in the United
States. They have to find a way to use the litter when they
clean out the broiler houses.

Savage calls litter a co-product of poultry production since it
has value as fertilizer.

For every pound of chicken they raise, farmers must deal with a
half-pound of litter.
Georgia farmers produced 5 billion pounds of chicken in 1995.
That left them with 2.5
billion pounds of litter.

Many farmers near south Georgia poultry farms have learned the
value of litter, Savage
said. The price of commercial fertilizer has risen greatly in
the past three years, forcing
farmers to look for alternatives.

The main drawback to using litter is the obvious one — the
smell. Fortunately, the odor
dissipates quickly. But until it does, it’s something farmers
using litter for fertilizer just
have to tolerate.

Neighbors, though, may be less happy with the situation.

Farmers can apply composted litter, which has less odor, near
surrounding homes, but
it has less fertilizer value.

Another concern is nutrients leaching from piles of litter.
Harris said if farmers can go
ahead and spread the litter onto their fields, leaching and
runoff shouldn’t pose a risk to
the environment.

“There’s such a difference between how much litter poultry
farmers actually have and
how much crop farmers want to use,” Savage said. “You’d be hard-
pressed to find
litter for your farm or even your garden unless you live near a
poultry farm and get
along with the owner.”