Thirteen million [corrected] metric tons of poultry litter are produced annually by poultry producers in the U.S. Poultry litter contains the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, endocrine disruptors that have been detected in surface waters. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential impact of poultry litter applications on estradiol and testosterone concentrations in subsur...

Food animal production systems have become more consolidated and integrated, producing large, concentrated animal populations and significant amounts of fecal waste. Increasing use of manure and litter as a more "natural" and affordable source of fertilizer may be contributing to contamination of fruits and vegetables with foodborne pathogens. In addition, human and animal manure have been iden...

Application of litter and other organic by-products to agricultural land off site of animal production facilities has created both environmental concerns and agro-economic opportunities, but limited long-term, field-scale data are available to guide management decisions. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the water quality effects of repeated annual poultry litter application as...

Maize (Zea mays L.) production requires large amounts of nitrogen (N) thatdirectly affect production cost. Poultry litter can be used as an alternative source ofN. To optimize its use, poultry litter requires technical and economic feasibilityanalyses. Crop simulation models have proven to be efficient tools to support thistype of research. The objectives of this study were to determine yield a...

With the increasing demand for broiler meat, a thorough evaluation of microbial community within houses and sites where litter is deposited critical to animal environmental wellbeing. However not much known in this arena, so our work evaluates bacterial house over 2.5 year period through 11 flock rotations, partial total cleanout, subsequent deposition as fertilizer on pastureland. The effects ...

Organic manure is considered as a beneficial fertilizer on soil quality and an excellent alternative resource of chemical fertilizer (CF). However, organic manure from intensive farms may have a negative impact on soil quality because of containing some harmful components, such as heavy metal and antibiotics. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of poultry litter (PL) and livest...

The effects of large-scale poultry production operations on water quality and human health are largely unknown. Poultry litter is frequently applied as fertilizer to agricultural lands adjacent to large poultry farms. Run-off from the land introduces a variety of stressors into the surface waters including nutrients, antimicrobials and pathogenic bacteria. The Delaware, Maryland and Virginia (D...

The inability to incorporate manure into permanent pasture leads to the concentration of nutrients near the soil surface with the potential to be transported off site by runoff water. In this study, we used rainfall simulations to examine the effect of broiler chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) litter application method and the runoff timing on nutrient and E. coli losses from tall fescue (Fest...