AlB—Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, June 20,1981
By Herbert C. Jordan
Penn State Extension Poultry
Specialist
UNIVERSITY PARK - A
farmer entered my office in May of
1981 after planting com all day. He
told a story about oats produced by
poultry manure that happened 30
years ago.
Old, dry poultry litter and
manure was taken out of a house
where a breeder flock of chickens
had been kept. The litter was
spread on plowed ground thinly
and evenly, then harrowed in and
spring oats were planted. That fall
100 bushel of oats were harvested
per acre which surprised
everyone. This broke every record
m the county.
Today we do not hear reports
like this. Some say it is because
fewer farmers grow oats today -
farmers grow mostly com. Maybe
it is because farmers fear lodging
of small grains where manure is
used.
Poultry manure can reduce crop
yields and even cause crop failure
if the manure is not cared for
properly or is applied too heavily.
Here are a few factors to consider
to keep fertilizer value high in
poultry manure:
Poultry manure should be
dried inside the poultry house
shortly after it is produced if it is to
be stored inside die poultry house.
If it is removed daily, it can be
applied to fields fresh.
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Poultry manure requires proper care
Poultry should not be fed too
much sodium or potassium since it
is passed into manure and may
take the form of a salt. Salt in sod
is a problem for crops; it may be
tested tor in the routine soil test.
Liquid or wet poultry manure
that is more than 28 days old after
it is produced but kept in a pit or
storage area can be used as weed
killer. Farmers report old wet or
liquid manure depresses com
yields or kills weeds in sod when
applied at a rate greater than 2
tons dry matter per acre. This is
equivalent to 40 tons liquid manure
per acre (10,000 gallons) or 10 tons
per acre of manure at 80 percent
moisture.
s Wet manure 6 months to one
year old decreases slightly in
volume but becomes more con
centrated in gaseous ammonia,
methane, hydrogen sulfide and
some chemists feel that the
presence of gaseous amines cause
damage to crops or sods. Some
other chemists feel the various
forms of nitrogen may cause harm
to plant growth.
in summary, we must check
manure for plant nutrient quality.
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TRACK FOR FASTENING CALVES
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Nitrogen in fresh poultry manure
is 70% ih the form of urea and uric
acid whde 30% is protein nitrogen
or organic nitrogen. Poultry
manure should be equivalent to a 5-
3-2 fertilizer on a dry weight basis
when it is fresh and immediately
incorporated into the soil.
TURN YOUR MANURE HANDLING
NIGHTMARE INTO A MANAGEABLE,
TIME AND FUEL SAVING EVENT
For the Bomgardner brothers, Jay, Carl and Charles, hauling the
manure from their 100 high producing dairy cows was a nightmare. At
their Blue Mountain View Farm, Annville R 3, these brothers tried many
different manure handling systems before they found the Slurry-Brute
manure pump from US Farm Systems of Pennsylvania.
“We tried a lot of different ways to get that stuff out of our 40x60 open
pit," Jay Bomgardner said. “Different kinds of pumps and sucking
spreaders. But nothing really worked. We would pump for hours trying to
get the manure mixed up. But mostly after a day of pumping we would
still just get out the water and leave the solids to build-up in the pit."
“Then we tried the Slurry-Brute and bought it on the spot. With the
propellor and cutting knives to help the pumping action mix up the pit, we
stirred up the manure in less than 2 hours. That’s the same pit we
couldn’t get stirred up in 12 hours with other pumps. And the manure
stayed in suspension even when we didn’t get it ail removed until several
days later."
“And we filled the tanker with heavy manure in 3 minutes,” Jay con
tinued. “We really saved a lot of time and fuel with the Slurry-Brute. And
as time and fuel become more expensive, having a pump that does the job
will be worth more and more.”
. You too can turn your manure handling nightmare into a manageable,
time and fuel saving event. For more information write to:
U S Farm Systems
of Pennsylvania
4020 Blue Ball Road
Nottingham, PA 19362
Or Phone (301) 398-2948
Before you purchase a
manure spreader always check it
for the lowest application rate or
lowest setting. At 55 percent
moisture manure weighs about 55
pounds per bushel. Therefore, a
spreader set at the lowest ap
plication rate, if it is applying 100
bushel to the acre, is applying 2.75
tons/acre which may be plenty for
com.
Fertilizer quality of poultry
manure vanes so it should be
tested. Soil tests should be run
every year prior to applying
manure at a controlled level.
■ 1C farm
I IX SYSTEMS
of Pennsylvania
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