A new app from Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. (DPI) will match crop farmers who need chicken litter with growers who have litter to sell.
“We kept hearing about growers that had litter and grain farmers that were looking for litter. And there was often a disconnect in how to match these folks up,” Holly Porter, DPI’s executive director, said. “Our hope it to make connections between the farmers, the growers and the brokers.”
DPI is an 1,800-member trade association “working for the common good of the meat chicken industry in Delaware, the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia’s Eastern Shore,” according to their website.
Benefits of chicken litter as fertilizer
Chicken litter is a convenient and inexpensive fertilizer source for many farmers. Research has shown that litter is just as effective as synthetic fertilizers when it comes to fertilizing crops.
“Chicken litter has nitrogen and phosphorus in it, two nutrients that are important for the growth of plants like corn and soybean. Of course, the corn and soybean are then used to help feed the birds, so being able to recycle the litter helps us create food that is locally sourced, produced and grown,” explained Porter.
Connecting farmers and growers also offers benefits to the surrounding community, improving crop growth and soil health to help meet regional water quality and healthy watershed goals.
The app, called Littr., should be available for download on Google Play on Android and the App Store for Apple products by the end of 2020. Funding from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will be used to help build and market the matching tool.
“This tool is something that the industry asked for,” Porter added. “It’s another example of the industry stepping up to say ‘look, we’ve got some challenges ahead, but we’re going to continue to do what we need to do to farm in the Delmarva area.’ I’m very proud of DPI members stepping up to look for a solution.”
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