Chicken Manure Improves Soil Health

Chicken Manure Improves Soil Health LIVESTOCK Poultry Chicken Doo a product of Soil Production Solutions in Cassopolis Mich is a high-quality poultry-derived fertilizer made from litter available throughout Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana “Chicken litter is renewable sustainable and has almost no carbon footprint ” says company spokesperson Nick Dussel  “It adds organic matter to the soil along with the things farmers want in synthetic fertilizers: NPK calcium magnesium the list goes on And did I mention that it’s organic and half the cost of synthetic fertilizers?”    The delivery company got off the ground two years ago “We’d been in the organic fertilizer business for a few years prior but more on the application side of things ” Dussel says “Then we decided to put an ad in the Farmer’s Exchange and advertise for buying chicken litter From there it’s been a whirlwind of late nights and early mornings ”  Chicken Doo is a product that rewards pickiness “Litter has gotten a bad rap because most people selling and applying it just get whatever chicken manure they can get their hands on ” Dussel says He shares that boiler and turkey barns often bed the birds with sawdust diluting the litter’s nutrients as it breaks down “But in layer barns the chickens are not bedded with sawdust or other types of bedding We have good local sources of layer barn litter and take the time to drive to every barn to get samples for analytical purposes ” Soil Production Solutions has invested in its own equipment to keep costs low “That’s allowed us to halve trucking costs compared to working with delivery companies ” he says “Owning the equipment has increased sales and taken away logistics headaches It’s a straightforward application process We have three spreader trucks and generally apply one to two tons per acre ” The challenge remains to get customers to understand that chicken litter is more than just NPK “Farmers should put on litter yearly to boost biology and micronutrient levels and build organic matter in their soil Getting everyone educated is a major part of what we strive to do With sky-high input costs of everything and low commodity prices spending money on the right products for your soil is imperative ”  Pricing depends on location though the team reports that Chicken Doo saves growers about 50 percent over synthetic fertilizers with the same nutrients Their standard delivery radius is about 100 miles “Saying that we’ve found that there are a lot of farmers that would love to use the product and just haven’t had a good source ” says Dussel “If we can get the numbers to work we’ll virtually go anywhere We welcome growers large or small Find us on Facebook and Instagram at Soil Production Solutions ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Nick Dussel Soil Production Solutions ph 269-228-1711; nick@soilproduction com

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