A comprehensive GIS-based poultry litter management system for nutrient management planning and litter transportation

Confined poultry (broiler) production in Alabama results in about 1.8 million tons of litter annually. Because poultry production mainly occurs in the Appalachian Plateau region of north Alabama, this region suffers from excessive land application of litter, resulting in buildup of phosphorus (P) in soils and runoff of pathogens and P from land-applied areas. Conversely, the Black Belt region of south-central Alabama suffers from depressed agricultural economy because of poor soil fertility. In order to achieve optimal poultry litter management in Alabama, litter produced in the concentrated production areas within the Appalachian Plateau region must be optimally distributed in this region or transported south for utilization in the Black Belt region. Hence, a comprehensive system to provide improved waste management strategies (optimal land application and transportation) for sustainable on- and off-farm litter utilization in Alabama is needed. The primary focus of this study was to develop a comprehensive, geographic information system (GIS)-integrated poultry litter decision support system (PLDSS) for on- and off-farm management of poultry litter in the Appalachian Plateau and Black Belt regions of Alabama. The PLDSS is a user-friendly, comprehensive system that supports nutrient management planning, transportation analysis, and data management for poultry litter management using ArcObjects, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Network Analyst in ArcGIS. Important functional components and analytical capability of ArcGIS 9.1 were implemented in several sets of customized tools. Because the PLDSS allows efficient development of nutrient management plan, it can help to reduce over-application of poultry litter. Also, through PLDSS’ transportation analysis, the litter can be optimally transported to nutrient deficit areas. Therefore, the PLDSS will help poultry producers with optimal, cost-effective and environmentally sound poultry litter management in Alabama.