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ARS Home » Northeast Area » University Park, Pennsylvania » Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #318727
Title: Phosphorus and nitrogen losses from poultry litter stacks and leaching through soils

Author
item LIU, JIAN - Pennsylvania State University
item Kleinman, Peter
item BEEGLE, DOUGLAS - Pennsylvania State University
item WELD, JENNIFER - Pennsylvania State University
item SHARPLEY, ANDREW - University Of Arkansas
item Saporito, Louis - Lou
item SCHMIDT, JOHN - Pioneer Hi-Bred International

Submitted to: Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/27/2015
Publication Date: 9/5/2016
Citation: Liu, J., Kleinman, P.J., Beegle, D.B., Weld, J.L., Sharpley, A.N., Saporito, L.S., Schmidt, J.P. 2016. Phosphorus and nitrogen losses from poultry litter stacks and leaching through soils. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 103(1): 101-114. doi:10.1007/s10705-015-9724-3.

Interpretive Summary: The practice of stacking poultry litter in fields prior to land application provides important logistical benefits to farmers but is controversial due to its potential as a source of nutrients pollution. We evaluated nutrient losses under stacked poultry litter to assess differences in nutrient leaching through soils characteristic of major poultry production regions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Results point to relatively small environmental losses of nutrients from stacks over the short-term, but the potential for long-term impacts due to nutrient accumulation in soils under stacked litter.

Technical Abstract: The practice of stacking poultry litter in fields prior to spreading provides important logistical benefits to farmers but is controversial due to its potential to serve as a source of nutrients to leachate and runoff. We evaluated nutrient fate under stacked poultry litter to assess differences in nutrient leaching through soils characteristic of major poultry production regions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A two-year field study was carried out in central Pennsylvania, USA to investigate phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) losses in leachate and runoff from manure stacks (oblong shape, 5 m length, 4 m wide, and 1.5 m high) with and without a protective cover. Intact columns (0.3 m deep) of Hagerstown silt loam and Evesboro sand soils and pan lysimeters were installed in transects under each stack to assess leaching losses of N and P. In addition, runoff plots were installed on top of the uncovered stack to monitor surface runoff. Yearly nutrient leaching losses from both covered (total P: <0.01-2.3 g m-2; total inorganic N: 0.11-11.8 g m-2) and uncovered poultry litter stacks (total P: 1.1-58.8 g m-2; total inorganic N: 85-290 g m-2) as well as runoff losses (total P: <0.04-2.98 g m-2; total inorganic N: 7.09 g m-2) from uncovered stack surface were generally low, due to high water holding capacity of the litter that minimized leachate beneath the stacks. Covering the stacks reduced nutrient losses in leachate to background levels, due to additional reduction of leachate depth and nutrient concentrations. However, soil beneath the covered stack accumulated as much P at the surface as the uncovered stack, and had even greater soil nitrate by the end of the study. Results point to relatively small environmental losses of nutrients from stacks over the short-term, but the potential for long-term impacts due to nutrient accumulation in soils under stacked litter. Moreover, this study reveals substantial temporal and spatial variation of nutrient losses from manure stacks that may not be observed with small, experimental stacks often used in testing nutrient fate under stacked litter.