Poultry

This is a good time of year for farmers to take soil samples. Annual soil sampling is required of any land in North Carolina, which receives animal manure. If the soil analysis comes back from the state lab and indicates that the soil needs lime to raise the pH, then it is the responsibility of the farmer to go ahead and lime the soil. Soil samples should be taken from fields of no more than 20 acres. If a field is bigger, then it needs to be split up into more than one sample.

Take a series of from 10 to 20 small samples per field, mix the samples in a plastic bucket then fill a soil sample box about two thirds full. Soil sample boxes can be obtained from the county Extension office.

Do not use galvanized or brass tools for taking samples. The small amount of copper and zinc these tools would leave in the samples would sway the results of the analysis.

Fill out a soil sample submission sheet and drop the sheet and the samples off at the extension office. Samples go in to the state lab usually every week. At the present time sample analysis is coming back to farmers relatively quickly. If you wait until December, January, or February to submit your samples, do not look for results for from two to three months.

Waste samples need to be submitted to the state every time manure is applied to the soil. If you are going to clean out your barns within the next three weeks, or so, and take the manure directly to the fields, then take a sample and send it in to the state lab, so that results are back when you go to spread. If the manure is going to be stored for three weeks or more before spreading, wait until about three weeks before spreading to take your sample and send it to the lab.

Collect samples of litter from your poultry house by taking up to 20 small samples in different parts of your house. I like to zigzag down the chicken house, to get a good representative sample. Place each small sample in a plastic bucket, and mix all the samples together. If you have more than one poultry house, mix the samples from all houses together. Fill a quart zip-lock type bag and label it with your name, address, phone number, and the type of litter. Fill out a waste analysis data sheet, and a check made out to NCDA, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, and submit the sample. Again, samples dropped off at the Extension office usually go in to Raleigh, about once per week. Waste Samples usually do not take more than about two weeks to be analyzed, and the results sent out to you.

Anyone wanting to check on the results of their soil or waste analysis can download the information from the NCDA site on the world wide web. The URL is www.Agronomy.Agr.state.nc.us This might save you some time in finding out the results of your analysis.

For more information, contact your county office of the Cooperative Extension Service. All Cooperative Extension programs are open to all people regardless of race, religion, color, ethnic origin, age, sex or disability.