Turkey litter for hay field

[Mark Reynolds]

We use hi-mag mineral early in the year to help prevent grass tetany; around here nearly every farmer with beef cattle uses hi-mag early in the year and by June it is usually not a problem. All depends on the growing season early, and temps for fast early growth and amount of moisture to promote that fast growth.
Most all our delivered litter is weighed by the load... the poultry farmers have several of the big walking floor trailers, and they go by scales and weigh everytime. We have alot of truck stops with scales all around here... and you weigh empty once, then run the rigs over the scales everytime after and they get tickets. We pay by the ton. There are a couple that have done averages and when a trucker is good, he can tell you within a little bit what the trailer load weighs... but it is pretty much accepted that the loads are all weighed. These poultry farmers want to get paid for all they send out.
When nitrogen got so crazy high, getting poultry litter was hard... even with us being regular customers for years... it has come back to more normal situations.

We had a pile off loaded at the edge of a field one year... the conditions were so bad for getting it unloaded at alot of places and we had a couple places that the trucks could back in and not get off hard ground so the trucks would not get stuck. Sort of a "sacrifice" place for guys who had to get some moved and could not get their regular customers delivered to. The pile sat for a couple of months before we could get on the ground to get it spread. 8 years later, that section of the field where the pile sat, is still more productive than any other place on the whole field. Hay grows faster, taller and has more moisture and is slower to dry mostly because of it being so thick.
So, even if you lose some of the nitrogen by piles sitting, there is alot of good stuff that percolates down into the ground and will feed the crop for years.
I have no problem with the 4 tons to the acre that will actually help to build up soil fertility... that area where the pile was, tells me that it did not hurt the ground at all...
Yes, there are always some seeds that will come through even when it is composted, and some weeds associated with litter. You deal with it when the soil is healthier and the hay or other crops do better. We also spread it on pastureland when we have "extra"....

Thank you again @farmerjan. I was thinking about high mag mineral supplement to prevent grass tetany, but hadn't said it. So I guess I was remiss. You filled in the gap.

As you have pointed out a couple times now, poultry litter is good....no, great......for more than just nitrogen. You pointed out in your prior post that those using poultry litter need to soil test. Ending up with a potential excess of phosphorous was your point. At least you won't (shouldn't) have a problem with broomsedge if that happens.

I wasn't so concerned with the amount of nutrients at 4 tons to the acre as I was smothering/suffocating the existing grass. Not being as familiar with polutry litter as I'd like to be, I was using my knowledge of lime application to fields in my thinking about quantity. That being said, lime and poultry litter are quite different.

 

[blackladies]

Surely that's not the hauled price is it?

$25 a load delivered, guy has turkey barns a mile from my farm.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

$25 a load delivered, guy has turkey barns a mile from my farm.

Whatever you do, don't let him know the true value of his 'waste'.

 

[blackladies]

You will be safe from tetany when cutting the hay in June. Theoretically it could happen in June, but haven't ever heard of it occurring then and wouldn't ever expect the conditions to even remotely come close to being correct for tetany to occur then. I apologize as I hadn't seen you post about hay or tetany in June. Grass tetany results from a insufficient uptake of magnesium by plants during and because of periods of rapid plant growth. The resulting low magnesium content in the grass (during the rapid spring greenup, exacerbated by added nitrogen to increase quick forage production in the spring) results in a deficiency of magnesium in the animal and an imbalance with calcium, which can and often is fatal but can quickly be reversed with an injection of (I think) calcium by a veterinarian with no long term negative effects, if administered quickly enough.

A quick scan of the literature shows that grass tetany has been known to occur when livestock is fed baleage from certain forages, although I have never heard of that happening.

I worked with a producer one time that applied nitrogen to his spring pastures and suffered the consequences so to speak. The producer contacted the vet quickly enough and the vet saved at least 3 cows that were showing symptoms to various degrees, but the producer lost 4 cows within what the producer estimates to be a period of two hours......out of a herd size of 27.

Have high mag loose mineral available To them at all times.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Have high mag loose mineral available To them at all times.

You are golden then.

 

[Travlr]

$25 a load delivered, guy has turkey barns a mile from my farm.

So basically the litter is free. Loading, spreading, and delivery is what you're being charged for.

I used chicken litter quite a few times in Arkansas. The litter can be too "hot" if it's fresh and the shavings help cut that down. I preferred chicken litter and liquified hog manure to chemicals, but they each have an odor for several days. Otherwise I believe the results are better than artificial fertilizers.

 

[simme]

Here is a very good document on the use of chicken litter on pastures and hayfields. It covers lots of issues. One point is effect on soil ph. Typically, nitrogen fertilizers will lower the ph of the soil, requiring lime to be added. Pastures here that have had continuous use of litter seem to seldom or never need additional lime. I always wondered why the litter does not lower the ph. This document explains that the chicken feed contains calcium carbonate, so using litter is continuously adding lime to your land. Another advantage of litter.

Poultry Litter Application on Pastures and Hayfields

Poultry litter is widely used on pastures and hayfields in Georgia. There are many benefits when it is used wisely. Producers should use nutrient management planning and recommended rates to ensure poultry litter is used in ways that maximize its benefits without harming the environment.

extension.uga.edu

 

[Silver]

I know nothing of chicken litter, but cattle manure put on at 20 tons per acre is certainly not enough to smother anything. It's rather more of a dusting.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Here is a very good document on the use of chicken litter on pastures and hayfields. It covers lots of issues. One point is effect on soil ph. Typically, nitrogen fertilizers will lower the ph of the soil, requiring lime to be added. Pastures here that have had continuous use of litter seem to seldom or never need additional lime. I always wondered why the litter does not lower the ph. This document explains that the chicken feed contains calcium carbonate, so using litter is continuously adding lime to your land. Another advantage of litter.

Poultry Litter Application on Pastures and Hayfields

Poultry litter is widely used on pastures and hayfields in Georgia. There are many benefits when it is used wisely. Producers should use nutrient management planning and recommended rates to ensure poultry litter is used in ways that maximize its benefits without harming the environment.

extension.uga.edu

Thank You @simme for finding the article. There are a lot more poultry houses here in SC than there were for me to consider in OH, and the information in this article is pertinent to me especially now considering that it was written 'right next door'.

 

[BC]

Poultry litter is a good source of some nutrients and increases organic matter. It generally provides N-P-K in a 2-2-1 ratio, so if you are trying to grow bermuda for hay you will need to add some additional potassium. The nitrogen is slow to release, so you may need to add 50 units of N to jump start the litter. The good thing is about 25 to 30% of the N in the litter is available due to the slow release.

 

[farmerjan]

Here is a very good document on the use of chicken litter on pastures and hayfields. It covers lots of issues. One point is effect on soil ph. Typically, nitrogen fertilizers will lower the ph of the soil, requiring lime to be added. Pastures here that have had continuous use of litter seem to seldom or never need additional lime. I always wondered why the litter does not lower the ph. This document explains that the chicken feed contains calcium carbonate, so using litter is continuously adding lime to your land. Another advantage of litter.

Poultry Litter Application on Pastures and Hayfields

Poultry litter is widely used on pastures and hayfields in Georgia. There are many benefits when it is used wisely. Producers should use nutrient management planning and recommended rates to ensure poultry litter is used in ways that maximize its benefits without harming the environment.

extension.uga.edu

Good article, Thanks @simme

 

[Springfieldsimm]

We have been using chicken litter for quite a few years. Usually get it delivered in the fall and stack it on a pile to compost over winter. If stacked right with the heat of composting it doesn't get wet except for a few inches on the outside of the pile. We usually get it spread after first cutting since we have nothing but hills and it's usually to wet to do it earlier. We put on anywhere from 1-2 tons on depending on how much we want to boost the field. We put it on our hay fields and pastures but mostly our hayfields. I'd have to check what we pay but I think $25 or $30 a ton delivered. If the rain hits right it really boosts 2nd cutting.

 

[Little Joe]

$25 a load delivered, guy has turkey barns a mile from my farm.

Man, that's a bargain, if I could litter that cheap I'd buy my own spreader and I'd be putting litter on twice a year while I could get it cheap. I had litter spread one time on my place and the guy accidentally spread it real heavy in one area, it was a game changer for that area, it grew the best grass for several years. We have chicken houses around, trouble we have is getting someone to spread it, I've seriously thought about buying my own small spreader to pull behind my tractor. I feel like litter is a lot more bang for your buck long term as oppossed to commercial fertilizer.

 

[blackladies]

Man, that's a bargain, if I could litter that cheap I'd buy my own spreader and I'd be putting litter on twice a year while I could get it cheap. I had litter spread one time on my place and the guy accidentally spread it real heavy in one area, it was a game changer for that area, it grew the best grass for several years. We have chicken houses around, trouble we have is getting someone to spread it, I've seriously thought about buying my own small spreader to pull behind my tractor. I feel like litter is a lot more bang for your buck long term as oppossed to commercial fertilizer.

I probably need to find a spreader if I'm going to do this long term. Found a guy to do it and he said he would charge $300. Just like the fact that some organic material is getting put down over commercial as well.

 

[Little Joe]

I probably need to find a spreader if I'm going to do this long term. Found a guy to do it and he said he would charge $300. Just like the fact that some organic material is getting put down over commercial as well.

I run across them from time to time on marketplace between $1000-$3000 depending on size and condition.

 

[farmerjan]

We bought an older "litter truck" from one of the local places... it is getting a little wear and tear but the engine and all the spreader components all work. I think he paid $3,000 for it... Something that one of the commercial guys replaced with a newer and bigger truck and spreader bed... But for what we do it is great. Then we get it delivered by the walking bed trailer load... and son can get it spread a couple loads at a time when and where he wants it. Also have a couple other guys around that have trucks and sometimes he gets them to come and spread it if he wants to get a whole bunch done all at once. Lots of independents around here that have trucks to do fertilizer and such.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Man, that's a bargain, if I could litter that cheap I'd buy my own spreader and I'd be putting litter on twice a year while I could get it cheap. I had litter spread one time on my place and the guy accidentally spread it real heavy in one area, it was a game changer for that area, it grew the best grass for several years. We have chicken houses around, trouble we have is getting someone to spread it, I've seriously thought about buying my own small spreader to pull behind my tractor. I feel like litter is a lot more bang for your buck long term as oppossed to commercial fertilizer.

I know what you are saying @Little Joe, but a word of caution. You don't want to make the litter too much of a good thing. Think about this. That grass that looked wonderful from getting an excessive amount of litter........It was probably deficient in magnesium in the spring, possibly at least. (Grass tetany issue? but supplement with high mag trace mineral). The phosphorous level in the soil as a result.......probably out of this world, as in stratosphere numbers. That isn't good for surface waters when (and you will have) runoff/leaching.

Commercial fertilizer has it's place to work in conjunction with or as a supplement with poultry litter. You can balance the nutrient level in the poultry litter with supplemental commercial fertilizer as you can formulate an exact mix to apply based on soil tests. Formulating a 'mix' that gets the needed amounts of all nutrients with litter alone, in the right balance, can't be done.

You do get more bang for your buck with litter, but it's not a stand alone solution and don't let it become too much of a good thing.

Use the litter, it's great shyt!

 

[Travlr]

Man, that's a bargain, if I could litter that cheap I'd buy my own spreader and I'd be putting litter on twice a year while I could get it cheap. I had litter spread one time on my place and the guy accidentally spread it real heavy in one area, it was a game changer for that area, it grew the best grass for several years. We have chicken houses around, trouble we have is getting someone to spread it, I've seriously thought about buying my own small spreader to pull behind my tractor. I feel like litter is a lot more bang for your buck long term as oppossed to commercial fertilizer.

The best thing about litter is that it builds soil instead of just adding chemical. Over time it's better as it adds layers. The microbiome of the soil is maintained instead of killed.

And per @Mark Reynolds, a cheap magnesium block for the cows will keep the grass tetany at bay.

 

[ClinchValley86]

I would love to get some for ground in Morristown. I've asked and asked and have yet to hear of any available. Just turrible.

 

[Allenw]

I know nothing of chicken litter, but cattle manure put on at 20 tons per acre is certainly not enough to smother anything. It's rather more of a dusting.

We deep plowed once what had been an old cow corral or feed pen at one time, we were planting wheat on that field and ended up putting that section up for hay for several years because it would burn up or was susceptible to fungus or something because it was so thick