Economics of Transporting Poultry Manure and Litter 

For example, when land under the control of the poultry grower or suitable land nearby for the spreading of poultry waste as organic fertilizer is not available, it necessitates finding new markets for land applications farther away and developing new opportunities to utilize the waste.  For many years, high quality poultry litter has been marketed both as a fertilizer and as beef cattle feed.  Marketing litter often involves transportation from the point of origin to the point of use. 

A Concentrated Industry 

Locations of most poultry farms are concentrated within a 25-to-50-mile radius of an integrator’s hatchery, feed mill, or processing plant. When the production radius increases over 25 miles, some integrators figure the cost of broiler production increases one cent per pound.  Others may figure a flat rate on all transportation of $2 per mile; meaning a 50-mile haul would cost double the rate of a 25-mile haul.  As a result, the combination of labor and transportation, can cost a broiler production complex an additional $2 million annually. 

We must also be concerned with the cost of protecting and preserving surface and groundwater quality.  Therefore, we must consider both the economic and environmental consequences.  Is it more cost effective and environmentally responsible to increase the area of production so that all poultry waste products can be accommodated?  Or does it make more sense to transport waste byproducts out of the concentrated production area? 

Take, for example, a 1.25 million bird per week broiler complex.  While most of the poultry litter and waste is generated by broiler chickens, there are pullet and broiler breeder farms in the complex as well.  If a 5.0-pound bird is the target slaughter weight, accounting for mortality and a 0.5 lb rate of litter production per lb of bird, then the birds will produce approximately 75,000 to 80,000 tons of litter annually.  At a litter application rate of 5 tons per acre, it would take 15,000-16,000 acres to land apply all the litter.  If more than one integrator is in operation in an area, additional litter will be produced requiring more acreage to land apply.  

Alternatives to land application of litter have been slow to gain traction but do exist.  Burning litter for energy, pelletizing the material, and anaerobic digestion (perhaps the alternative with the most potential) have all been studied.  Another alternative to land application in the area where the litter is produced is to find markets outside the production area.  This requires third party haulers with a transportation and delivery system and a network of litter buyers outside the area and poultry growers within the production area.  

Estimating the Break-even Point 

The break-even point is somewhat difficult to get a handle on because there are a variety of different waste disposal systems in play across the country.  Some cleanout contractors swap old litter for new bedding.  Some contractors may pay the grower a limited amount ($10-$20/ton) for the old litter and pay for new bedding.  In general, $30-40/ton is common for purchasing litter in Tennessee.  Although, it may be higher in row cropping areas.  There are reports of cattle farmers paying $60/ton and bringing litter in out of Kentucky because row crop farmers have most of the Tennessee litter supply already spoken for.   

In northwest Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma where more litter is transported than any region in the country, pricing is $10/ton paid for broiler or turkey finishing litter on the floor of the house, $7/ton to load litter on a semi using a bobcat and litter conveyor, and $4 per loaded mile for a 23-ton semi load.  Example:  If a 23-ton semi load is hauled 100 miles from the source farm, the total cost to the buyer would be ($10*23) + ($7*23) + (4*100) = $791 for the load or $34.39 per ton.  The Delmarva/Chesapeake Bay area has a variety of programs and prices vary depending on the location and circumstances.   

If the poultry grower is paid a fair price, and the litter has enough value as a fertilizer of feed ingredient, they buyer can afford to transport the litter 100-300 miles, depending on the end use.  These distances may be increased if sufficient litter applications in the buyer’s watershed convince other farmers that spreading litter on their farms does improve soil quality and increase crop yields.  However, it is critical that everyone work together.  When both parties are engaged, the price of the litter should reflect a fair exchange between what poultry growers and transporters are paid and the value of the litter to the buyers. 

Other Practical Considerations 

There is more to consider than just the transportation.  A practical method for getting the litter from the floor of the chicken house into a high-sided 18-wheeler is a must.  This could be a telescoping loader or an elevator/conveyor with the hopper inside the chicken house and the shoot extending outside over the bed of the trailer.  The litter must be free of foreign materials such as soil, rocks, or other debris.  Litter should be covered during transport and storage to prevent losses, protect it from the elements and stormwater runoff, and avoid any negative perception of the poultry industry by the public.   

In addition, the value of poultry litter can vary based on how it is managed.  The assumed availability of nutrients will change based on when the litter is applied (spring vs. fall application), how it is applied (incorporated vs. non-incorporated), and field soil test information.  This along with transportation/delivery costs, application costs, and the variability in commercial fertilizer prices all contribute to the changing value of poultry litter on a site-specific basis and from year to year.  Furthermore, litter variability can be affected by how many flocks are grown on the litter before it is removed from the houses, the difference in the size of broilers when they are harvested, and different feed formulations fed by various poultry integrators. 

Roads and turnaround areas at both ends (seller and buyer) must be large enough to accommodate multiple 18-wheelers and allow for loading and unloading operations.  In addition, if litter on the buyer’s end can’t immediately be spread and will need to be stored, adequate storage facilities must be available if land application or other use is delayed. 

Biosecurity is of critical importance in today’s poultry industry.  The quality of poultry litter must be protected, and its transport must be biologically secure.  Poultry litter should be transported only from well-managed and disease-free farms.  All transport trucks and loading equipment should be properly cleaned and disinfected before moving to a different farm.  Wash water from the trucks should be drained and diverted from surface runoff or leaching to groundwater.  If managed properly, litter may be deep stacked before being transported off-farm to kill any harmful microorganisms.  However, care must be taken, and heat level monitored to avoid reducing the nitrogen content or creating a fire hazard.  Composting or pelletizing treatments can reduce litter’s bulk and odor. 

Treatment Technologies 

Treatment technologies are one tool, among others, for improving certain pollution sources.  However, these technologies may not be the best, nor the most cost-effective solutions for addressing the litter issue, in part because of the scattered nature of the poultry industry with thousands of small family farms producing poultry litter.  For these technologies to be feasible, litter must be transported from thousands of small farms to a central processing facility.  In addition, primarily because litter/manure constitutes only a fraction of the total nutrient load to rivers and streams, manure technologies do not offer a comprehensive solution for total pollution reduction.   

Manure contributed approximately 16 percent of the nitrogen and 35 percent of the phosphorus to the Chesapeake Bay from Pennsylvania in 2012, while chemical fertilizer contributed 22 percent of the nitrogen and 20 percent of the phosphorus in the same time period. By reducing the availability of manure as a crop fertilizer, farmers will then rely more on commercial fertilizers, which may also contribute to surface water runoff and leaching to groundwater.  Therefore, efforts to reduce erosion and sediment loss are critical to reducing nutrient loss.  Conservation practices that help keep sediment, along with nitrogen and phosphorus, on crop fields will both sustain long-term agricultural productivity and provide significant water quality improvements. 

Energy production and composting are likely the two most popular treatment technologies.  Composting accelerates the biological decomposition of organic materials, so the nutrients are stable and will not undergo further rapid decomposition in the soil. Compost adds significant amounts of organic matter to improve soil health, so it has a high commercial value, especially in the landscaping and horticultural markets.  If applied in crop fields, nutrient losses from the more stable compost are reduced, although some ammonia may be volatilized in the composting process, depending on temperature, moisture, and other factors.  Advanced techniques can dramatically reduce nitrogen losses through volatilization.  The composting process can be done at a very small scale, with little more than protection from precipitation and runoff, and a form of mechanical aeration.  Large-scale production also provides high quality materials for athletic fields, mine land reclamation, vegetable production, landscaping, and other uses. 

Energy production is feasible (and ongoing in some locations) because there is a constant supply of litter/manure from agriculture.  However, transportation is again an issue because the litter must be moved from individual farms to the production facility.   There are two general methods for producing energy from manure: the use of heat in thermochemical processes and the use of bacteria in biological processes.  Some examples include:  

Thermochemical Processes

• including combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, and torrefaction are better suited for manure that is relatively dry, such as poultry litter. They produce a range of potentially valuable products including liquid bio-oils, diesel fuel, combustible gas, and ash. By-products of some processes will have concentrated nutrients with various uses. Some heat-based processes also generate air emissions of polluting nitrous oxides that must be captured, adding to the cost to run the system. Other systems that operate with little or no oxygen release inert nitrogen gas that naturally is part of the atmosphere. Heat-based systems are adaptable to different scales, but vary widely in their effectiveness and cost, and often require high capital investments. 

Anaerobic Digestion

• is more effective for manure with high moisture content, such as dairy, swine, or perhaps cage-layer lagoon manure. It uses bacteria to break down manure and create methane to generate heat and/or electricity. The sludge by-product retains most of the phosphorous and may be used as a crop fertilizer, with minimal odor. Because this by-product is more concentrated than raw manure, it is easier to apply where and when it is most needed by crops. If solids are separated, they may be used as bedding for dairy cattle or as a soil amendment. Anaerobic digesters typically require a high capital investment, so are only feasible for large farms, but innovations for smaller farms are being developed. 

Transporting Litter 

For example, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Poultry Federation offer a poultry litter transport incentive program to facilitate the efficient use of poultry litter as a crop nutrient source in areas that can most benefit from those nutrients and that are outside of the main poultry-producing counties. The goal is to encourage the development of self-sustaining poultry litter markets outside the Chesapeake Bay watershed, as well as certain designated areas within the Bay watershed.  Through the program, $7.50, $15, or $20 is provided per ton of litter moved to help cover additional costs associated with increased transport distances. 

Delaware has a Nutrient Management Relocation Program which is a cost-assistance program designed to assist in transporting nutrients (litter) from areas of excess, to areas in need of nutrients. Many farms are dealing with excess poultry litter and need to export the manure in order to balance crop nutrient demands. The Delaware Nutrient Management Program provides financial assistance for the cost of transporting Delaware manure to alternative-use projects or farms in need of nutrients.   

Maryland’s Manure Transport Program helps cover the cost of transporting manure to farms with low phosphorus fields or to alternative-use facilities. Payments of up to $22.50 per ton are available to eligible farmers and manure brokers.  For poultry farmers, the following rules apply: 

• qualifying farmers receive up to $22.50 per ton to transport poultry litter,  
• the sending farm must be located in Maryland and raise broiler chickens for one of the participating Delmarva poultry companies, 
• poultry litter must be transported more than 7 miles from the sending farm,  
• transported poultry litter must be land applied as a nutrient source for an agricultural crop or sent to an approved alternative use facility. ​  

Arkansas has The Litter Link, a virtual poultry litter bank, serving poultry growers, litter buyers, and haulers in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas that provides information regarding litter transport and supply to poultry growers and crop producers, while supporting the efforts of local haulers to develop a sustainable poultry litter transport industry. 

The relationship between poultry litter management technologies and a sustainable litter transportation market is symbiotic.  Both must be in play to:  

• provide additional income to poultry growers, 
• depend on incentives rather than regulations to encourage proper waste management practices, 
• create a consistent demand for litter in less nutrient-rich watersheds, and 
• create new job opportunities as well as cleaner water supplies and environments in rural areas. 

It will take everyone working together (poultry growers, litter buyers, sellers, haulers, and treatment technology groups) to figure out the best long-term solution(s) to the poultry litter use and transport situation.  

References 

Chesapeake Bay Foundation. 2015. Manure technology: No panacea for Pennsylvania waters and the Chesapeake Bay. Pennsylvania Fact Sheet.    

Delaware Department of Agriculture. 2021. Cost share programs. Available at: https://agriculture.delaware.gov/nutrient-management/cost-share/. Accessed: March 15, 2021. 

Herron, S. 2021. Personal communication. BMPs Inc. (The Litter Link; https://litterlink.com/)  Farmington, AR. 

Maryland Department of Agriculture. Manure transport program. Available at: https://mda.maryland.gov/resource_conservation/pages/manure_management.aspx#:~:text=Requirements%20for%20Poultry%20Litter%20Transport&text=Qualifying%20farmers%20receive%20up%20to,7%20miles%20from%20the%20sending. Accessed: March 15, 2021. 

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. 2021. Virginia poultry litter transport incentive program. Available at:  https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/nmlitter. Accessed: March 17, 2021. 

Young, K., R. I. Carreira, H. L. Goodwin, and E. Wailes. 2005. Economics of transporting poultry litter from northwest Arkansas to eastern Arkansas croplands. Presented at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Little Rock, AR, February 5-9, 2005.