Integrating pastured meat chickens into organic vegetable production increased nitrogen and microbial biomass with variability in presence of E. coli and Salmonella spp

• Published in: Renewable agriculture and food systems 2024-03, Vol.39, Article e11
• Main Authors: Bilenky, Moriah T., Nair, Ajay, McDaniel, Marshall D., Shaw, Angela M., Bobeck, Elizabeth A., Delate, Kathleen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural practices; Agriculture; Amino acids; Animal manures; Animals; Autumn; Biomass; Carbohydrates; Carbon; Chickens; Cover crops; Crop production; Crop production systems; Crop rotation; Crop yield; Cropping systems; Crops; E coli; Farms; Feed efficiency; Food safety; Foodborne pathogens; Integration; Lettuce; Livestock; Manures; Meat; Microorganisms; Nitrogen; Nutrient status; Nutrients; Outdoors; Pathogens; Poultry; Poultry feed; Precipitation; Research Paper; Safety; Salmonella; Seasons; Seeds; Soil fertility; Soils; Summer; Vegetables
• ISSN: 1742-1705; 1742-1713
• DOI: 10.1017/S1742170524000012

Integrating animals into a farm supports a closed or semi-closed production system where nutrients are recycled and off-farm inputs are reduced. In comparison to other livestock, chickens can be a low-investment option for animal-crop integration of small-scale, diversified, vegetable farms. Although crop-animal integration poses many potential benefits to farms, soils, and the environment, there are significant food safety risks when considering the production of vegetables in close proximity to raw manure. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of poultry integration with meat chickens (broilers) in two different seasons on soil health, food safety, vegetable yield, and poultry feed efficiency in organic vegetable cropping systems. We explored these effects in an open field study with three rotation treatments (two that integrated chickens and a no-chicken control): vegetables-cover crop (V-CC; control treatment), vegetables-cover crop-poultry (V-CC-P), and vegetables-poultry-cover crop (V-P-CC). In response to crop rotation, over three years, we monitored soil nutrient status, soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC), and microbial catabolic potential and diversity using Biolog® microplates. The presence or absence of foodborne pathogens in soil and vegetables was also measured. Nitrate–nitrogen (NO3–N) was higher in V-P-CC in year 2 as compared to both V-CC and V-CC-P (P = 0.001 and