Bay Journal

Perdue turns to composting to get more poultry waste off farm fields

Perdue Farms, one of the nation’s leading poultry producers, is adding a new product to its increasingly varied lineup: compost.

Through its AgriBusiness offshoot, the family-owned corporation based in Salisbury, MD, has begun converting organic wastes from its chicken processing plants and hatchery into fertilizer at a $12 million plant recently finished in neighboring Delaware.

Company officials say the new 15-acre facility, called AgriSoil, is expected before long to begin handling poultry litter – a mix of manure and wood shavings. That could offer Perdue’s many contract growers on the Delmarva Peninsula a new option for dealing with tightening regulatory restrictions on the traditional practice of spreading the manure from chicken houses on crop fields.

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Whitney Pipkin
January 19, 2017
Pollution

Trump’s EPA nominee vows to enforce Bay pollution diet - Timothy B. Wheeler | 01/18/17

Pepco agrees to pay $1.6 million penalty, curb pollution of Anacostia River - Timothy B. Wheeler | 01/17/17

Plan floated for Mallows Bay national marine sanctuary - Timothy B. Wheeler | 01/15/17

Volunteer pilots offer environmentalists an eye in the sky - Rona Kobell | 01/12/17

Funding common theme as Bay states confront 2017 environmental issues - Timothy B. Wheeler | 01/10/17

Baltimore group can see the urban forests amid the trees - Timothy B. Wheeler | 01/08/17

Hogan proposes legislation on renewable energy, pollution trading - Rona Kobell | 01/04/17

Maryland fracking rules put on hold, setting stage for legislative debate - Timothy B. Wheeler | 12/29/16

From the Blogs

Rusty patched bumble bee’s buzz fading
The buzz is not good for the rusty patched bumble bee. Once common across more than half of the United States, including the Chesapeake... - Timothy B. Wheeler | 01/17/17

Cardin voices “major concerns” about Trump’s choice to run EPA
Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin said Tuesday that he has “major concerns” about President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head... - Timothy B. Wheeler | 01/11/17

Bay earns C-minus in latest report card on its health
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has taken the pulse again of the nation’s largest estuary, and found its health has improved a bit,... - Timothy B. Wheeler | 01/05/17

Maryland still mulling cownose ray bowfishing limits
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources still wants to hear from the public on how it should manage cownose rays, a migratory... - Rona Kobell | 12/29/16

Features

Bay’s elusive bobcats are more likely to be heard than seen

Few Americans have seen the shy and elusive bobcat (Lynx rufus). And yours truly is no exception. Though the most widely distributed wild cat in North America, the bobcat is not commonly seen as it is mostly nocturnal and...
Kathy Reshetiloff | Bay Naturalist 01/13/17

Gadwalls, ducks show that birds of many feathers can flock together - Michael Burke | On the Wing 12/29/16
Wish list! - Kathleen Gaskell | Bay Buddies 12/22/16
Mistletoe’s berry special for humans and birds alike - Kathy Reshetiloff | Bay Naturalist 12/14/16
National parks - Kathleen Gaskell | Bay Buddies 11/22/16
Heroes are at the heart of these memorials - Kathleen Gaskell | Chesapeake Challenge 11/10/16
Only clever observers realize just how intelligent fish crows are - Michael Burke | On the Wing 11/08/16
Got brook trout? Then you’ve also got a healthy stream - Kathy Reshetiloff | Bay Naturalist 11/02/16
Bones! - Kathleen Gaskell | Bay Buddies 10/19/16
Refuges offer many recreational opportunities to go wild this fall - Kathy Reshetiloff | Bay Naturalist 10/13/16

Opinion

Did acceleration of building ditches dig the grave for Blackwater’s marshes?

“Don’t stand up while we’re moving. If we come to a sudden stop, we could lose you.” Ray Paterra, visitor services manager of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, had just given us lifejackets,...
Phillip Hesser | Forum 01/10/17

Prepare to be ticked off when messing with biodiversity - Tom Horton | Chesapeake Born 12/28/16
To make Chesapeake great again, red & blue must strive for green - Al Todd | Message from the Alliance 12/21/16
Here’s to a holiday when there are plenty of oysters for plate & reef - Peyton Robertson | Forum 12/13/16
Bay Program teams using cross-project initiatives to reach goals - Nick DiPasquale | Around the Watershed 12/07/16
Let your grave enter the circle of life, not a dead zone - Liza Field | Forum 11/30/16
We must count our numbers as well as actions we’re taking to be sustainable - Tom Horton | Chesapeake Born 11/15/16
As storms overwhelm Hampton Roads, CBF’s Brock Center shines - Mary Tod Winchester | Forum 11/03/16
New monitoring cooperative aims to expand role of citizen science - Nissa Dean | Message from the Alliance 10/28/16
It will take sea change in land policies to cope with vanishing shorelines - Liza Field | Forum 10/18/16

Travel

Spot waterfowl from a warm car at Merkle sanctuary

Nothing says winter like a V-shaped formation of Canada geese winging across a steely sky, their honking carried on a chilly breeze. Cold weather brings tens of thousands of geese, migratory ducks and other waterfowl to the...
Timothy B. Wheeler | Bay Journeys Article 01/18/17

Skunk cabbage rules the winter wetlands - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 01/10/17
Patuxent Research Refuge serves humans, flora and fauna - Rona Kobell | Bay Journeys Article 12/27/16
Loudoun County state park new but not unknown - Whitney Pipkin | Bay Journeys Article 12/18/16
First Day hikes - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 12/14/16
Magothy River map, videos reveal ‘hidden gems’ for paddlers - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 12/05/16
Theodore Roosevelt Island, a forested DC memorial hidden in plain sight - Whitney Pipkin | Bay Journeys Article 11/16/16
Getting to know Michaux Forest will rock your world - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 11/04/16
Museums, trails, river lure visitors to Port Royal, VA - Leslie Middleton | Bay Journeys Article 10/28/16
Love of ducks, geese extends from table to tableau - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 10/19/16