Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2002

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Agricultural Economics

Major Professor

William Park

Committee Members

Charles Goan, Roland Roberts

Abstract

Due to the increasing concentration of livestock production in confined animal feeding operations, the management of livestock waste has become an increasingly important water quality issue. Proposed federal regulations may require significant adjustments in land application rates and higher costs for some farmers. Poultry production is the largest confined animal enterprise in Tennessee. Facilitating cost-effective, environmentally sound poultry litter management practices is very important to poultry farmers in Tennessee and elsewhere.

Most research to date has focused mainly on the alternative poultry litter utilization strategies and the costs of transporting litter from surplus to deficit areas. Poultry farmers are increasingly relying upon third party poultry litter handlers who clean out houses and then transport litter for sale to Other farmers. Very little research attention has been given to the role of these handlers in the off-farm litter market.

The overall objective of this research project was to analyze the current situation in Tennessee regarding poultry litter management in general, and the role of the litter handlers in particular. Specific objectives were to:

identify and summarize current poultry litter management and utilization practices by poultry farmers in Tennessee,

assess the capacity of land available in Tennessee for poultry litter application to assimilate nutrients, in relation to nutrients contained in current and projected amounts of litter,

assess the current litter market in Tennessee, focusing on the role and practices of poultry litter handlers, and

project the impact of industry expansion and proposed regulations on the litter market in Tennessee.

The data needed to complete these objectives was obtained from three sources. The first was a simple survey of poultry farmers in Tennessee as to their production capacity and off-farm movement of litter. This survey was accomplished with the assistance of field service representatives of poultry integrators in the state. The second source of data was the 1997 Census of Agriculture, which provided the livestock numbers and crop acreages required to conduct the nutrient balance work. The third source of data was a set of personal interviews conducted with twelve poultry litter handlers operating in the state as to the characteristics of their litter handling business and practices.

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