Reviewed October 1993
Use our feedback form for questions or comments about WQ203.
Publication search
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources requires that a permit or letter of approval be obtained for the construction and/or operation of poultry enterprises above a certain size. In general, turkey and broiler operations that are using the litter system of waste management and are equal to or larger than the numbers in Table 1 must obtain a permit or letter of approval from the Department of Natural Resources.
These numbers refer to "on-hand" capacity of the buildings at any one time, rather than birds marketed per year. Operations smaller than the numbers in Table 1 may not be required to obtain a permit or letter of approval but are still required to operate in compliance with the Missouri Clean Water Law.
Table 1
Size of operation requiring letter of approval from the Department of Natural Resources (effective 1/13/92)
| Animal type | Construction and operating letter of approval required |
|---|---|
| Poultry broilers | 100,000 birds |
| Turkeys | 250,000 pounds1 |
Approval of a waste management system by the Department of Natural Resources requires that enough land be available to receive the waste generated by the poultry enterprise. If this land is not available under the ownership of the poultry enterprise, a legally binding agreement must be reached with adjacent landowners to allow spreading of litter on their land. A specific form, M121-F Spreading Agreement, available from the Department of Natural Resources, outlines the necessary requirements.
The Department of Natural Resources currently accepts three approaches in estimating land-area requirements for litter spreading from poultry operations. They are
These approaches vary in the degree of detail required for estimating land-area requirements. In general, the conservative management approach results in the greatest land-area requirements, with less land required for the intensive and plant-available nitrogen approaches, respectively. This publication deals only with estimating land area requirements using the conservative management approach.
Under the conservative management approach, land-area requirements are based on the application of 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre per year. No restrictions are implemented regarding crop grown, nutrient uptake capability, or waste/soil analysis.
Land-area requirements in this approach are based on average levels of nitrogen in turkey and broiler litter and the average amount of litter produced annually.
This procedure is not intended to be a fertilization program for the crop being grown, but is intended to ensure that enough land will be available to receive waste in an environmentally sound manner.
In estimating land-area requirements, the amount of nitrogen produced annually is simply divided by 100 to give the acres required. Table 2 shows the land area required by the Department of Natural Resources for turkey and broiler litter operations under the conservative management approach.
Table 2
Land area required for broiler and turkey litter operations under the conservation management approach
| Land area1, acres per 1,000 pounds bird liveweight2 | |
|---|---|
| Broilers | 2 acres per 1,000 pounds of bird |
| Turkeys | 1.7 acres per 1,000 pounds of bird |
The following example illustrates the use of Table 2 to determine land area needed in a broiler operation.
Example
Estimate land-area requirements under the conservative management approach for a broiler operation with two buildings having a capacity of 25,000 birds each. Total "on-hand" capacity is 50,000 birds; they will have an average weight of two pounds during their growout period. Six flocks per year will be grown in the buildings; the growout period for each flock is estimated at seven weeks.
Bird live weight = 50,000 birds x 2 pounds per bird = 100,000 pounds = 100 thousandweights
Land area = 100 thousandweights x 2 acres/thousandweight = 200 acres
This value can be adjusted based on number of flocks and growout period. Building occupancy = 6 flocks per year x 7 weeks per flock x 7 days per week = 294 days per year
Adjusted land area = 200 acres x (294 ÷ 365) = 161 acres
Hence, 161 acres must be available for litter spreading in order to obtain a letter of approval for this operation.
Table 3 shows land area requirements for different size broiler and turkey operations under typical management schemes.
Table 3
Land area required for Department of Natural Resources approval of poultry operations
| "On-hand capacity" number of birds | Land area | |
|---|---|---|
| Broilers1 | Turkeys2 | |
| 20,000 | 64 acres | 311 acres |
| 40,000 | 128 acres | 622 acres |
| 60,000 | 192 acres | 933 acres |
| 80,000 | 256 acres | 1,244 acres |
| 100,000 | 320 acres | 1,555 acres |
As noted previously, this procedure is primarily intended to ensure that sufficient land is available to receive waste from a given size poultry operation. Spreading litter on the correct acreage for a given size operation will not necessarily meet the nutrient needs of the crop.
WQ203, reviewed October 1993