Nitrogen Transformations in Surface‐Applied Poultry Litter: Effect of Litter Physical Characteristics

Passing poultry litter through a fine sieve (<0.83 mm) generates a fine fraction that is higher in N concentration than the whole litter and cheaper to transport per unit of N. This fine fraction can be pelletized to facilitate handling, but changing the physical characteristics of the litter may change the amount of N loss or the rate at which N mineralizes. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of physical characteristics of the fine poultry litter fraction (pelletized or fine particles) on net N and C mineralization, NH 3 volatilization, and denitrification resulting from surface applications of the fine fraction to Cecil loamy sand (clayey, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludult) and Dothan loamy sand (fine‐loamy, siliceous, thermic Plinthic Kandiudulf) soils. The soils were adjusted to 52% water‐filled porosity, treated with either pelletized or fine‐particle poultry litter at 30.7 g N m −2 , and incubated at 25 °C for 35 d. Humidified air was circulated over each sample (15 chamber volumes min −1 ) and the NH 3 evolved was trapped in 0.025 M H 2 SO 4 . Inorganic N contents and rates of denitrification and respiration were measured at 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 35 d after application. The physical characteristics of the litter did not affect total amounts of net N mineralized and NH 3 volatilized in 35 d. However, total denitrification losses were significantly higher for pelletized (6.2% of the applied N in Dothan and 7.9% in Cecil) than for fine‐particle litter (0.2% in Dothan and 0.8% in Cecil). Thus, surface application of pelletized litter may result in increased denitrification losses compared with fine‐particle litter.