In preparation for spring 2023’s poultry litter application, the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission has temporarily lifted the poultry litter restrictions for 180 days starting November 1.
In spring 2022, the Delaware Department of Agriculture issued restrictions on the movement and spreading of poultry litter to mitigate the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The 180-day extension will allow farmers to stage poultry litter in the fields in preparation for use next year and will end July 29, 2023.
The purpose of allowing litter staging this fall is to limit litter movement as much as possible next spring which is when HPAI risk is highest.
What is poultry litter staging?
Field staging is a way to store litter until its future use. Properly staged litter is stacked in a 6-foot-tall triangular pyramid to avoid soaking up rainwater.
Avian influenza in Delaware
Some of the largest HPAI outbreaks in Delaware have been a 156,800 flock of broilers in Kent County and a flock of 265,000 pullets and a flock of 1,146,937 layers both in New Castle County.
One of the most recent U.S. outbreaks was in Madison County, Arkansas on October 7 – the first 2022 outbreak in the state. The size of the flock has not been disclosed.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
Read our ongoing coverage of the global avian influenza outbreak.
