WEST VIRGINIA POULTRY PRODUCTION SURVEY pdf

WEST VIRGINIA POULTRY PRODUCTION SURVEY A Report on Implementation of Water Quality Improvement Practices in the Five Eastern Panhandle Poultry Producing Counties. Requested By The West Virginia Poultry Water Quality Advisory Committee Prepared by: Thomas Basden, Extension Specialist West Virginia University Extension Service Andrew Walker, Non-Point Source Specialist West Virginia Soil Conservation Agency Potomac Inter-Agency Water Quality Office 129 North Main St. Moorefield, WV 26836 Telephone: (304) 538-7581, Fax: 538-7676 and Casey Ritz, Ph.D., Poultry Program Coordinator West Virginia University Extension Service WVU Eastern District Office 40 State St. Keyser WV 26726 Telephone: (304) 788-3118, Fax: 788-2543 ABSTRACT Rapid expansion of the West Virginia poultry industry has prompted questions concerning the effect of this expansion upon water quality. This survey was conducted during October and November of 1994 to determine the level of Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation in order that educational and technical programming could be targeted toward specific BMPs needing greater attention. Using a set of 52 questions, poultry producers demonstrated their management of poultry litter and mortality and how they were making agronomic decisions on their farms. Improved methods of poultry litter storage, application, and distribution are occurring. Poultry mortality management has made a dramatic shift to composting as a low-cost solution. Agronomic management is an area that needs targeted programming to demonstrate to producers how they can maximize poultry litter as a fertilizer. Overall, the producers are showing a commitment to voluntary land stewardship that will ensure continued, environmentally sound growth of the poultry industry in the Potomac Valley. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Purpose Of Study Methods And Materials Results And Discussion Section I. Type of Production and Geographic Location Section II. Size and Type of Farm Operations Section III. On-farm Litter Utilization Section IV. Litter Distribution to and Utilization by Non-poultry Producers Section V. Litter Storage and Land Application Section VI. Agronomic Management Section VII. Manure and Litter Analysis Section VIII. Crop and Forage Management Section XI. Mortality Management Section X. State and County Regulations Conclusions References Appendix A Questionnaire Form Appendix B Tables of Results Appendix C Follow Up Survey, Sept. 1995 Appendix D Watershed Map Perdue Farms, Inc.; Rocco Farms, Inc.; Wampler-Longacre 1 Foods, Inc. 4 INTRODUCTION The five West Virginia counties, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, and Pendleton historically have had poultry production as a part of their agricultural makeup. During the last five years this industry has undergone considerable expansion within the Potomac River Watershed, becoming the primary agricultural enterprise in the State. The rapid expansion of the poultry industry combined with West Virginia's established beef cattle industry has generated questions about the effects of the large number of animals on water quality in this watershed. State and Federal Agricultural Agencies including Natural Recourse Conservation Agency, Consolidated Farm Service, State Soil Conservation Agency, West Virginia University, WVU Extension Service and the West Virginia Department of Agriculture have joined together to address these concerns through educational and technical programs. This collaboration has evolved into the Potomac Headwaters Project. To determine the best utilization of agency personnel, a needs assessment is underway. A component of that assessment was the completion of a survey of poultry producers to determine specific sizes of operations, management of litter, types of equipment utilized, and specific agronomic decisions. The poultry integrators agreed to distribute and collect the survey from each 1 of their producers. This was done during the fall of 1994. Because of the industry cooperation, 53% (199 respondents) of the surveys sent out were returned by producers. A 53% return is commonly an acceptable number for this type of study. Therefore, the conclusions should allow agricultural producers, the poultry industry, and State and Federal Agencies to use this study as a planning tool to ensure the continued growth of all agricultural activity while maintaining and improving water quality in the five county area. PURPOSE OF STUDY The purposes of this study were threefold. First, to determine the degree of implementation of water quality improvement practices by the poultry producers in the Potomac River Watershed. Second, utilize the responses to this questionnaire to target technical and educational programming on specific management practices. Finally, to demonstrate the successes which are already occurring through voluntary adoption by producers. Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, Pendleton 2 5 METHODS AND MATERIALS A 52 question survey was initiated during the summer of 1994 in the Potomac Inter-Agency Water Quality Office (See Appendix A for questionnaire form). The document was reviewed by district conservationists, county agents, university specialists, and poultry integrators. During October and November the questionnaire was distributed to 375 poultry producers in the five county 2 poultry producing area, collected by the integrators upon completion, and returned to the Water Quality Office. A database was prepared and all returned surveys were entered into it. CMR Research Associates were contracted to statistically analyze the results. Included in this report are frequency distributions for each questionnaire item. Included in Appendix B are 65 tables presenting the responses to the 52 questions within the survey. The results are presented in bar graph format to clarify and condense the number of tables presented by CMR Research Associates. A 90% confidence interval was used for all questions. The number of responses to individual questions vary because of non-response error. On the bottom left side of each bar graph is a percentage response from total number of poultry producers in the Potomac Watershed and the actual number of responses. A short follow up survey is contained in Appendix C. This was conducted in September 1995 with 90% of producers responding to the questionnaire. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Section I. Type of Production and Geographic Location Q1. What type birds do you raise? All producers that returned surveys responded to this question. The breakdown of bird types shows that in the sample approximately 48% of producers raise broilers, 27% raise layers, 11% raise pullets and 15% produce turkeys (Figure 1). Q2. How many tons of litter do you produce annually? Figure 2 shows that 10% of poultry farmers produce 0-100 tons per year, 53% or the majority produce 101-400 tons, 13% produce 401-600, 13% produce 601-800 tons, and 10% produce over 800 tons of litter per year. Section I. Figures 1-4, Type of Production and Geographic Location 6 7 8 Q3. How many houses do you operate? Figure 3 shows a distribution of the number of houses per operation. The average number of houses per producer is 3 [90% CI{± 0.21}]. Q4. In what watershed is your operation located? Figure 4 shows that the largest concentration of producers (34%) is located in the largest watershed, the South Branch (see Appendix D). The second largest concentration (13%) is in a much smaller watershed, the Lost River area. The significance of the distribution by bird type is the large number of broiler producers that have 6 to 7 flocks per year and a corresponding accumulation of litter to store or apply at each cleanout. The other bird types have one or two cleanouts per year with reduced accumulation of litter. The 53% of producers that accumulate 101-400 tons/year of litter have a manageable amount that can be stored in a shed or under a tarp without difficulty. The 27% of producers accumulating 401-800 tons/year have a greater challenge storing, applying and/or selling this quantity of litter. Seventy-seven percent of producers have from 1 to 3 houses. Operations of this size should allow a producer flexibility in litter utilization through storage, application and/or selling of the product. Producers with 6 or more houses account for 9% of total producers. These operations should have large treatable acreage available, large storage facilities and/or written plans to facilitate distribution of the litter to other agricultural producers. Lost River watershed has limited treatable acreage for the large animal numbers located in the valley, making redistribution of litter to other areas a high priority (Appendix D). The Water Quality Incentive Program (WQIP) funded by USDA in 1994 has been implemented and is designed to encourage improved management of livestock manure and poultry litter within the Lost River watershed. In Grant County, the Mill Creek watershed also has a large number of producers in relation to the treatable acreage. Section II. Size and Type of Farm Operations Q5. How many acres do you normally operate? Figure 5 shows the distribution of farm sizes. The largest group consists of farms which operate less than 50 acres at 28%, followed by 51-100 acres at 13%, 101-250 acres at 22%, 251-500 acres at 21% and over 500 acres at 16%. Q6. Is your farm mainly grassland/hay, row crops, timber or other? Figure 6 shows that 84% of the farm land is grassland/hay. Section II. Figures 5-7, Size and Type of Farm Operation 9 10 [...]... aware of county siting guidelines Q52 Has the area around your poultry house been reseeded? Figure 26 shows that 85% of producers have reseeded the area around their poultry house The level of producer awareness is high for all State and County regulations that pertain to the poultry industry 29 CONCLUSIONS This survey was targeted to the poultry producers in the Potomac river drainage area Fifty three... National Poultry Waste Management Symposium, Birmingham, AL., Auburn University, AL 13 Wolf, D.D., 1993 Fall fertilization of orchardgrass with nitrogen Pp 84-88 In: Proceedings of the 1993 Virginia forage and grassland council conferences 14 Young, R.A., and Mutchler, C.K., 1976 Pollution potential of manure spread on frozen ground J Environ Qual 5:174 33 Appendix A Poultry Survey Please fill out this survey. .. educational and technical agencies and by poultry litter users are as follows: 1 Pasture and grass hay are our largest land use being treated with poultry litter Programs need to be developed to improve the promotion and utilization of litter as a good fertilizer source for this abundant land area 2 Some litter is leaving the Potomac Valley Programs need to be continued in the western part of the State to promote... 11 Agencies need to determine what level of soil phosphorus is excessive so standardized nutrient management planning can be established for the state of West Virginia The improved management steps that need to continue with producers that raise poultry or utilize litter as a feed or fertilizer are not insurmountable If producers continue to adopt the aforementioned Best Management Practices and programs,... reported was 9 [90% CI{± 2.0}] The distribution in Figure 7 shows a large number of respondents (57%) having no row crop production at all Q9 What percent of your farm is timber? The mean percentage reported was 31 [90% CI{± 3.4}] Based on Q7-Q9, the average poultry farm in this survey consists of 60% grassland/hay, 10% row crops and 30% timber The 28% of producers with less than 50 acres have the... To reach conclusions from the data we will assume that the sample population, those that filled out the survey, were a random average group within the total population of producers The data shows that producers are implementing some best management practices The producers understand the value of poultry litter and are not indiscriminately land applying it as a disposal method, as some people have suggested... period of a year or two and then once every other year or when a production input such as feed or bedding changes (Sims, et al., 1989) Even producers that sell all their litter would benefit from litter analysis because they could quantify the nutrient value of the litter that they were selling With 45% of producers having both livestock and poultry components to their farming operation, testing of all... reduces bio-security hazards associated with rendering and allows the producer to recycle the nutrients in the animal carcasses as a fertilizer (Murphy, 1992) The survey shows that there is a high approval rating for composting with 95% of poultry producers that currently compost satisfied with the system As incinerators wear out through use, producers need to be encouraged to convert to composting... the Potomac drainage, the poultry industry is not the only potential producer of non-point source pollution that needs to be addressed Rural septic systems, State and Federal fish hatcheries, sewage treatment plants, and winter livestock feed lots located next to small streams also need to be considered 31 REFERENCES 1 Bosch, D.J., and K.B Napit, 1992 Economics of transporting poultry litter to achieve... Effects of long-term broiler litter application on coastal plain soils pp 385-390 In: Proceedings of the National Poultry Waste Management Symposium, Birmingham, AL Auburn University, AL 6 Murphy, D.W., 1992 New developments in mortality composters pp 33-40 In: Proceedings of the National Poultry Waste Management Symposium, Birmingham, AL Auburn University, AL 7 Rayburn, E.B., R.E Blaser, and D.D Wolf, . WEST VIRGINIA POULTRY PRODUCTION SURVEY A Report on Implementation of Water Quality Improvement Practices in the Five Eastern Panhandle Poultry. Counties. Requested By The West Virginia Poultry Water Quality Advisory Committee Prepared by: Thomas Basden, Extension Specialist West Virginia University