Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This proposal aims to show the environmental and production benefits of using sterile Miscanthus x giganteus for broiler bedding. Project focuses on testing and applying novel technologies to provide tools useful to broiler house managers to address key steps in poultry litter management to reduce ammonia emissions, and improve fertilizer value, plant protection, soil health, and litter compost for crop production. Additionally, education in microbiological and technological aspects of litter management/composting to advance crop production/protection controls will provide hands-on training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Students, growers, and crop producers will be trained on the benefits and practices of sterile Miscanthus x giganteus production and composted litter attributes for soil health and crop disease control. This project addresses NIFA Priorities Natural Resources, Animal Health/Production, Environmental Quality, Climate Change, and Crop Production/Protection. It also fulfills the goals and objectives of UMES's strategic plan.
Animal Health Component
20%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
50%
Developmental
30%
Goals / Objectives
This proposal aims to show the environmental and production benefits of using sterile Miscanthus x giganteus for broiler bedding. Project focuses on testing and applying novel technologies to provide tools useful to broiler house managers to address key steps in poultry litter management to reduce ammonia emissions, and improve fertilizer value, plant protection, soil health, and litter compost for crop production. Additionally, education in microbiological and technological aspects of litter management/composting to advance crop production/protection controls will provide hands-on training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Students, growers, and crop producers will be trained on the benefits and practices of sterile Miscanthus x giganteus production and composted litter attributes for soil health and crop disease control. This project addresses NIFA Priorities Natural Resources, Animal Health/Production, Environmental Quality, Climate Change, and Crop Production/Protection. It also fulfills the goals and objectives of UMES's strategic plan.The proposal's goals and objectives are as follows:Objective 1 (Research): Develop Miscanthus(Mxg) bedding management practices in commercial broiler operation.,Objective 2 (Education): Develop and deliver/conduct learning opportunities for students on Mxg poultry litter management at UMES, as a model for other 1890 and land grant institutions, andObjective 3 (Extension/Outreach):Provide technical and safety practices guidelinesfor Mxg poultry litter management and poultry production with loss preventive controls workshops and training for faculty, extension specialists, students, and growers.
Project Methods
Objective 1: Develop Miscanthus (Mxg) bedding management practice in commercial broiler operations. [Research]Objective 1.1. Compare Mxg versus wood chips/savings under commercial conditions. To analyze the effect of Mxg use as poultry bedding, pairs of broiler houses will be established on a farm for a direct comparison of wood chips/shavings versus Mxg bedding with and without windrowing (n = 4). We will work with the poultry producer to evaluate typical litter management practices including windrowing, decaking, top dressing, and litter amendment applications. In the first year, four or five broods will be evaluated. Ammonia measurements using Dol-53 sensors and Radiello ammonia passive samplers will be installed inside each house near the exhaust fans. Ammonia concentrations will be recorded every minute using data loggers. Passive samplers deployed (n = 5) inside and outside the poultry houses (n = 2) will provide temporally integrated measurements of two weeks. In the second year, four or five broods will be evaluated but only the passive samplers will be used. Radiellos will be analyzed per manufacturer's instructions. Bedding will also be sampled (n = 20) for total N, P, and C before and after each brood and during the two-week windrowing or house ventilation period.Objective 1.2. Compare Mxg versus wood chips/savings under experimental conditions. This effort will focus on delineating the effects of Mxg on broiler performance and ammonia emission and litter quality with and without windrowing. Two litter management practices will be evaluated with two different treatments for each bedding during each brood grow-out, i.e., three rooms will be assigned for each treatment and control (wood chips/shavings with no windrowing). Three to four flocks will be conducted at different seasons to cover seasonal variation. Bird health will be assessed during the first week after bird placement, mortalities in excess of 1% will be submitted to the diagnostic lab, and diagnosis and corrective action will be recorded. be recorded. At the end of the grow-out phase of each flock, 5 birds from each room will be necropsied for health assessment.Objective 1.3. Assess and enhance procedures to sample and detect contamination in in-house composted poultry litter systems.The best sample loci within in-house windrow piles to sample and detect pathogens will be determined. Pile shape, moisture, and turning frequency are known to influence collectively successful pathogen destruction in self-heating.Temperature and moisture content monitoring of in-house windrows will be coupled with samples obtained from zones exposed to temperatures of at least 55 °C for 3 consecutive days before and after turning. Temperature, moisture profiles with depth (peripheral and interior) and in the 'end toes' of windrows will be the main loci for temperature measurement within the first four-five days of windrowin.Objective 1.4. Assess effects of composted poultry litter on soil health and vegetable crop production.To assess the benefits of composted poultry litter on small holder vegetable crop systems in sandy and sandy loam soils of two types of composted poultry litter, i.e., Mxg versus wood chips/shavings and with or without cover cropping. Currently recommended (NRCS) soil health indicators and soil microbial diversity will be used to characterize the amended or cover-cropped research plots at UMES established on soils that have not previously received animal manure or poultry litter or such composted products.Objective 1.5 Compare the protective effect of composted Mxg-PL to that of composted wood-shavings-PL on Downy Mildew of lima beans (Phaseolus lunata) caused by Phytophthora phaseoli and pod rot caused by Phytophthora capsici. Land application of fully composted (not just in-house windrowed poultry litter from Mxg) was reported to rescue one of the neighboring lima bean growers from a crushing crop failure due to Phythophthora . A small plot study will be conducted on lima bean farmed land to determine the efficacy and differences of poultry litter from Mxg and from wood chips/shavings composts on mitigating Phytophthora pod rot. Soil and composts will be characterized for nutrients and microbiome as described above. Usual antifungal agents have not proven to be successful in managing Phytophthora on lima beans, so an alternative that has had even anecdotal success offers growers a possible solution, thus making a small trial worth the effort.Objective 2: Develop and deliver/conduct learning opportunities for students on Mxg poultry litter management at UMES, as a model for other 1890 and land-grant institutions. [Education]To address the community, government, and poultry industry's need for a competent workforce of professionals who are trained in the state of the science, new technologies, and transdisciplinary perspectives for all aspects of animal, poultry, environmental sciences, we will develop the educational programs to support our education at universities and technical institutes.Objective 2.1 Develop courses, seminars, and eLearning. [Methods] (Hashem, Timmons, Li). The research (Obj. 1) outcomes will be used for seminars, learning modules, or independent courses on poultry, animal, agricultural, and environmental sciences, which will be developed into asynchronous eLearning formats for wide distribution among and beyond the collaborating institutions of UMES and UDel. TObjective 2.2: Develop and implement student internship and capstone project opportunities as a learning tool in sustainable and environmentally sound poultry production for UMES and 1890 university students. digital videos). This URE will be assessed using short-, middle- and long-term data collected for each student (in terms of learning outcomes, career choices, and trajectories) to determine best practices for conducting productive UREs.Objective 3: Provide technical and best practices plans, SOPs and preventive controls workshops and training for faculty, students, and growers [Extension/Outreach].Objective 3.1: Establish a publicly accessible project website highlighting the project, recommendations, outcomes, and developed resources. In year 1, the team will prepare the content and graphics for the project's website. Extension staff, with their experience in producing internet accessible outreach notices, will use the team's materials to establish and periodically update the content. Notice of the initial website and of updates will also be sent to 1890 Institution Extension Directors and shared in UMES extension and Delmarva Chicken Association (DCA) newsletters. Project updates will be provided on the website quarterly so the progress of the project can be shared on a timely basis.Objective 3.2: Conduct annual on-farm visits with Mxg poultry producers to demonstrate the principles/practices of the process and provide on-site support and review. Several on-farm demonstration/field days will be held in late fall and, if possible, in early spring. Research results will be shared at these events in cooperation with partnering chicken growers, chicken producing companies, and Mxg farmers. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to visit a farm utilizing Mxg in their chicken houses and learn the various aspects of managing Mxg bedding to promote bird health and performance. Farmers that grow Mxg will also be present to discuss their experiences with growing and harvesting Mxg as bedding for chicken houses. Stakeholders will include chicken growers, chicken company personnel, crop farmers, and extension personnel.