BENTON, Ky. – “Value-added” has been a term used in recent years to describe products created on the farm from another part of that farming operation. Some of those include jams, apple cider and ice cream.

But a couple in Marshall County, Ky. has given new meaning to the phrase as they have created a product using the chicken litter from their poultry operation.

The litter which consists primarily of chicken manure and spent litter bedding is being used to make an environmental friendly composted soil amendment.

Doug and Dianna Hall came up with the idea while searching for a way to bring more money into their Wing and a Prayer Ranch.

“The bottom line is farmers have to find other ways to bridge the gap between expenses and income and right now it’s not getting any better for a lot of farmers,” Dianna Hall said.

The product can be used by landscapers, home gardeners, in parks and golf courses as a way to enrich and improve their soils.

The Halls began their poultry business in 2000. They have four chicken barns and raise broilers for Pilgrim’s Pride. They also produce nearly 15,000 bales of bermudagrass hay each year. The composting business began in 2009 and the first bags of WP Ranch Composted Soil Amendment became available in 2011.

Hall said in the early days of the poultry business, it was a money-making endeavor; but as input costs rose and the paychecks didn’t, the need to venture into other areas became apparent.

Dianna is an environmentalist at heart with an extensive gardening background, so her thoughts of expansion included something that would be good for the soils.

“I think that people are getting interested in this now with the whole sustainability movement and the conservation movement,” she explained. “People are beginning to realize that our soils are so precious. Everything living on earth depends upon our soils.”

It came down to how to improve soils and create a value added product from the farm and do it without breaking the bank. And the compost idea was born.

“It just seemed to me that was what we needed to do. I felt like gardeners and landscapers and people who tend to enjoy their lawns would love to have that opportunity to improve their soils and make their gardens better,” Hall said.

Add to that the customers’ desire to use something that didn’t smell like chicken manure. The couple even managed to rid the smell from their new product.

The Halls did extensive research in creating the compost and reached out to local Extension agent Lincoln Martin for help. He arranged a meeting with a producer in southern Tennessee who was doing the same thing.

“They built upon some things they learned that day, improved some things, eliminated others and applied intelligence, knowledge and research to find out what it might take to do this,” Martin said. “I don’t think they’ve looked back since.”

Hall worked with her Master’s advisor at Murray State University, Dr. Iin Handayani, experimenting with mulch materials, learning about carbon and nitrogen. After researching with several possibilities, the right recipe came from wood chips, something the couple could get all year and get from a local business.

In keeping with the idea of using everything on the farm in multiple ways, the Halls use equipment they already own to perform the tasks in mixing and moving the compost. From beginning to the bagging stage, which is also done on the farm, the process takes about 6-9 months to complete a 30-ton batch of compost.

This is the first year the Halls have been able to market their product so, it’s a little early in the game to know exactly how it will be received. But early indications are good with positive reactions from those they have spoken with.

“We are just in the process now of trying to get it out there as much as we can,” said Dianna Hall. “It’s taken a little imagination, some ingenuity, hard work and patience. We’re not looking to get rich. We’re looking to be able stay here on our farm until we die and be able to leave it to our daughter and son.”

To learn more about the WP Ranch and WP Ranch Composted Soil Amendment, visit their website at www.wpranchllc.com