Wow, what a week it has been! I’m truly astounded by the amount of information I’ve learned in the past week under Jacob Giddens. I am truly thankful to have such a great mentor. But enough of the bragging, let’s get down to business.

Firstly, not only was I able to witness what goes on within the offices amongst the staff at NRCS-Kenansville, but I was able to also go outside to do some field work! Thankfully, it wasn’t too hot or I could have foreseen this going sour.

But I digress, let’s continue on. In the first week, I was able to visit over 8 different sites throughout Duplin County. Interestingly enough, there was 1 thing that all these “sites” had in common–well except 1 site–and that was that they were applying for “litter sheds.” Well, what the heck is a litter shed?

A litter shed is a poultry waste storage facility, typically used for composting because they “can be used to store large quantities of waste and can reduce water pollution. Litter sheds have wooden sides, a metal roof, and usually a concrete floor, although a packed earthen floor is less expensive” (Poultry Waste Stockpiling Methods).

Question #1: Do you think gravel flooring would be a good alternative instead of a concrete floor? Why or why not?

Farmers go through a process in which they must apply for funds to build a facility that can be used to help further their investments in the agricultural business. In this case, these various farmers requested funding for litter sheds for a place to store their litter. I know I’m using the term “litter” loosely…so here’s a definition for you:

Poultry litter refers to the manure (feces & urine) mixed with some of the bedding material or litter (wood shavings or sawdust) and feathers (Using Composted Poultry Manure…).

Question #2: Why would it be important for farmers to use poultry litter?

Question #3: What would be some of the “consequences” of not using poultry litter in relation to water quality?

I also mentioned composting. Well, composting is the process of turning litter into manure/fertilizer that can be applied to the land (aka crops). This is a large reason as to why many farmers here in Duplin County also have crops along with their poultry; they can use the compost from the litter of their poultry and apply it to their crops, effectively “killing two birds with one stone!” Hah, puns!