Cattle and Poultry Farming in Lower Little Tallapoosa Watershed   

 Steve Lovvorn owns and operates a cattle and poultry farm in the Lower Little Tallapoosa River (LLTR) watershed. The LLTR is in an active Public Law-566 Watershed Project with a large concentration of poultry and cattle operations within the watershed.

Concerns have been raised about excess nutrients and sediment having an impact on the watershed. The construction of the poultry houses on the rolling topography in Carroll County resulted in substantial fill being required for several of the houses. The concentrated roof runoff from the houses caused erosion on the side slopes of the pads. Mr. Lovvorn requested assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service to alleviate this erosion problem.

In addition to causing offsite sedimentation problems, the erosion also threatened the structural integrity of the poultry houses. Grade stabilization structures were installed to collect the roof runoff water at the top of the slope and safely pipe the water to the bottom of the slope.

Lovvorn has been very pleased with the solution to the situation. “Before installing the structures, I was unable to safely mow the slopes of the pads due to the gullies, now I can easily maintain the slopes without fear of the tractor turning over in one of the gullies.” Lovvorn has also installed a Dead Bird Compost Facility and a Dry Stack Facility to handle the poultry mortality and poultry litter generated by the operation.

Application of the litter and compost material to the pasture fields was applied according to a Comprehensive Waste Management Plan. With these practices, he has been able to store and compost the material in an environmentally friendly manner and retain valuable nutrients that would have been lost.

To improve the condition of the pastureland, Lovvorn has cross fenced the pasture to provide more control over the grazing characteristics of the livestock. This practice has reduced overgrazing of the grass and improved the utilization of the available forage. Livestock Water Facilities and Heavy Use Areas were installed to provide alternate water to livestock, thus reducing impacts to streams on the property.

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