Abstract

Quantifying how sustainable agriculture techniques impact soil carbon sequestration potential is critical for understanding the total effectiveness of these proposed practices. This study quantified this impact on a relational, rotationally grazed pastured poultry system in western North Carolina. There is limited information on how a small-scale silvopasture poultry system impacts soil properties and soil carbon. The primary objective of this study was to measure how soil properties were impacted on a daily to weekly timeframe, comparing an ungrazed control field to a rotationally grazed poultry field. Further, this study provided a baseline for future studies measuring the long-term impacts of this agriculture practice. Pre-treatment soil samples were collected before the onset of the poultry introduction. After poultry introduction, soil samples were collected from the ungrazed control paddock and rotationally grazed poultry paddock the day before the poultry were present and the day after their presence. A significant difference was found between treatment and control paddock carbon content at shallow depths, but these differences also existed prior to the introduction of poultry. A significant difference was also found between the bulk densities of treatment and control paddocks, but these differences also existed prior to the introduction of the poultry. This research is essential because it is paramount that we understand the effects of certain agricultural practices on the environment to see how they might contribute to mitigating climate change. This was done on this research site by quantifying the carbon content of the soil and evaluating if pastured poultry increases soil carbon accumulation.

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