Ecoregion and farm-size differences in feed and manure nitrogen management: 1. Survey methods and results for poultry

Environmental issues related to agriculture, and especially to animal production, are prominent in the regulatory agenda and are an area where the general public expects improvements. Many of the issues can be mitigated with changes in farm management practices. There is considerable potential for improvement, but before actions are recommended or mandated, it is important to document what are the current management practices and how they vary across the country and with farm size. This is the first of a series of papers that describes a large-scale livestock farm practices survey (LFPS) conducted across livestock farms in Canada, emphasizing manure nitrogen (N) management as it affects ammonia (NH3) emissions to the atmosphere. However, the survey results have much broader applicability. In this paper, the development of the survey and sampling strategy is described along with the results for the three main poultry sectors in Canada: broiler, layer and turkey. Husbandry in each poultry sector is generally uniform, but there were statistically significant regional differences in feeding practices and feed conversion efficiencies, and these imply differences in N excretion rates. Farm size was seldom significant as a covariate, suggesting that both small and large poultry farms have adopted similar husbandry and feeding practices.