Farmer Willingness to Supply Poultry Litter for Energy Conversion and to Invest in an Energy Conversion Cooperative

Conversion of poultry litter to energy can serve as a renewable energy source and provide an alternative to land application in areas where poultry production is intensive. Economies of size may limit a farmer’s ability to economically use on-farm conversion. Capital costs can be spread across several poultry farmers to convert poultry litter to energy in a centralized fa-cility. This research determined influences on the amount of litter poultry producers will to sell to a centralized conversion facility, on their willingness to invest in a conversion co-operative, and on the prices for litter required to divert litter from current uses. Key Words: poultry litter, supply, renewable energy JEL Classifications: Q12, Q13 Increases in energy costs, with energy costs comprising over half of cash expenses for poultry producers (Cunningham, 2008), cou-pled with a desire for sustainable production practices, highlight the need to investigate the use of poultry litter as a potential energy feed