Poultry litter selling for €15/t delivered

Tillage farmers in the midlands are benefiting from an increase in poultry litter volumes.

Moy Park is understood to be selling poultry litter from Northern Ireland for €15/t delivered to farmers as far down as Co Laois.

Farmers south of the border are using poultry litter as a way of keeping their costs down. It is understood that some 15,000t of poultry litter is coming south across the border.

Expansion in Moy Park now means that Northern Ireland produces approximately 260,000t of broiler litter.

With only 5% of land in the North being used for arable crops, there is a readily available supply of poultry litter for tillage farmers further south.

Research is ongoing in Northern Ireland to assess various technologies to deal with poultry litter, including the possibility of anaerobic digestion.

Nutrients

Poultry litter is an excellent manure for tillage farmers.

Litter from layer hens at 30% dry matter has a 13.7kg/t of total nitrogen (N) value, a 2.9kg/t of total phosphorus (P) value and a 6kg/t of total potassium (K) value.

When compared with traditional cattle slurry, the benefits are clear. Cattle slurry has a 5kg/t of total N value, a 0.08kg/t of total P value and a 4.3kg/t of total K value.

Botulism

Fears had been raised previously regarding the threat of botulism resulting from poultry litter.

However, if the litter is ploughed into the ground immediately, or if the litter is covered and stored, the risk of botulism is minimised.

Poultry litter cannot be spread on grassland due to the botulism concerns.