Nutrient production from Korean poultry and loading estimations for cropland

Background Poultry breeding has increased by 306% in Korea, inevitably increasing the production of manure which may contribute to environmental pollution. The nutrients (NP) in the manure are essential for crop cultivation and soil fertility when applied as compost. Excess nutrients from manure can be accumulated on the land and can lead to eutrophication. Therefore, a nutrient load on the finite land should be calculated. Methods This study calculates the nutrient production from Korean poultry by investigating 11 broiler and 16 laying hen farms. The broiler manure was composted using deep litter composting while for layer deep litter composting, drying, and simple static pile were in practice. The effect of weight reduction and storing period during composting was checked. Three weight reduction cases of compost were constructed to calculate nutrient loading coefficients (NLCs) using data from; i) farm investigation, ii) theoretical P changes (ΔP = 0), and iii) dry basis. Results During farm investigation of broiler and layer with deep litter composting, there was a 68 and 21% N loss whereas 77 and 33% P loss was found, respectively. In case of layer composting, a loss of 10-56% N and a 52% P loss was observed. Drying manure increased the P concentrations therefore NLCs calculated using dry basis that showed quite higher reductions (67% N; 53% P). Nutrient loss from farm investigation was much higher than reported by Korean Ministry of Environment (ME). Conclusions Nutrients in manure are decreased when undergo storing or composting process due to microbial action, drying, and leaching. The nutrient load applied to soil is less than the fresh manure, hence the livestock manure management and conservation of environment would be facilitated.