Demonstration of Alternative Containment Structures for Stockpiling Poultry Litter

The Maryland Department of Agriculture and Office of Resource Conservation will demonstrate and compare alternative containment structures to accommodate whole house clean outs of poultry houses which occur once every 2-3 years. (Current poultry waste structures are designed to accommodate only "crust outs" between flocks.) Project will evaluate and compare environmental benefits to water quality and cost effectiveness and systems management changes of three types of structures. Each structure will be replicated on two dominate soil types using locations in the mid and lower geographic regions of Marylands Eastern Shore. This project will involve six producers and provide technical and financial assistance to implement containment structures to stockpile and manage whole house cleanouts (approximately 250 tons) from poultry production grow out facilities when they occur during times of the year when nutrients in the poultry litter cannot be used for crop production. Project design will include instrumentation and monthly sampling of groundwater under each structure to compare environmental benefits and a cost/benefit analysis of each structure which considers implementation, maintenance, ease of use and nutrient benefits. The potential outcome of this project is to verify or modify standards and specifications as suitable for stockpiling containment structures and justify their eligibility for state (MACS) and federal (EQIP) cost share.