POULTRY POOP IS HOT.

• Position: Brief Article

Out-of-state poultry manure is moving into Virginia as a result of subsidies of up to $20 a ton that Maryland and Delaware pay for transporting this byproduct of raising chickens and turkeys. Maryland, which exports about 4,000 tons now, has enough funding to export 20,000 tons-that's enough to fill the state Capitol building. The waste is an attractive (as it were) alternative to commercial fertilizer for corn, soybeans and small grains. Virginia poultry farmers have long disposed of their litter by using it as fertilizer on their own or nearby farms. Some fear that a new Virginia law that requires...