Effect of annual applications of poultry litter on tall fescue

Poultry litter is an excellent source of nutrients for growing crops. Tests of litter from Kentucky broiler houses shows about 55 pounds each of N, P and K per ton. Kentucky has 5.5 million acres of tall fescue, most of which is growing on soils of low fertility. A study was initiated in 1991 comparing poultry litter with N fertilizer on an established tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea, Schreb.) sod. The soil was a Zanesville silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, mesic Typic Fraguidalfs) located at Princeton, Kentucky. Yields from two tons of Litter per acre were about the same as from 100 pounds of N. Four tons of litter per acre resulted in an additional 1.2 tons average yield per acre. Poultry litter increased soil pH and P. Potassium increased in soils treated with litter the first year but decreased slightly over the next three years.