A machine that can inject dry poultry litter and composted cattle manure below the soil surface in pastures and no-till fields is on order from a research coalition across five Chesapeake Bay states: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. There are currently no machines on the market that can do this.

The coalition is led by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist Peter Kleinman. He works at the Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit operated by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in University Park, Pa. ARS is USDA’s principal intramural scientific research agency.

Kleinman and his research partners at Pennsylvania State University at University Park and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University at Blacksburg received a $786,000 grant to test four prototypes of the Poultry Litter Subsurfer.

Fast-growing farm-raised salmon and trout that are sterile can now be produced using a method developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.  Blocking reproduction can enhance growth, and is important for fish being reared in situations where reproduction is undesirable.

There's no substantial quality difference between organically and conventionally produced eggs. That's one of a number of findings in an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study examining various aspects of egg quality.

Chicken litter is much more valuable as a fertilizer than previously thought, according to an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study showing its newfound advantages over conventional fertilizers.