Background/Question/Methods Despite potential on-farm benefits such as improved nutrient cycling, decreased external inputs, increased soil quality, and enhanced biodiversity, on-farm integrated crop-livestock systems have declined since the 1920s, as specialization and intensification have come to define the current agricultural landscape in North America. However, increasing consumer demands for goods such as pasture-raised poultry and their eggs, as well as opportunities for farmers to increase their profitability while strengthening on-farm sustainability have resulted in a renewed interest in integrated crop-livestock systems. However, little is still understood about the ecological impact poultry may have on pasture plant and arthropod communities especially when incorporated into rotations with vegetable cropping systems. In order to determine the impact of pasture-raised poultry on arthropod communities in Central Kentucky, we established a crop-livestock integration system using a randomized block design within a research farm in which 8 movable chicken tractors with variable densities (low: 10 chickens, high: 20 chickens, control: 0 chickens) of broiler chickens were placed on mixed summer cover crop for a six-week period. Cover crop precent cover and biomass were measured. Arthropods on cover crop vegetation were sampled via sweep-net and pitfalls were used to sample for ground-dwelling arthropods. Results/Conclusions Preliminary analyses show cover crop percent cover and total biomass was greater in the control treatment (no poultry), compared to the low-density and high-density poultry treatments. However, broadleaf and grass weed biomass was also higher in the control treatment relative to both poultry treatments. Additionally, the control treatment had relatively higher abundances of Hemipterans, Coleopterans, wasps, and spiders from the sweep netted samples in comparison to samples from the low- and high-density poultry treatments. Additionally, an Analysis of Similarly revealed that the composition of arthropod orders was different between control and poultry treatments. With the high-density poultry treatment arthropod community nested within the low-density poultry treatment. These preliminary results suggest that poultry can have significant impacts on cover crop plant and arthropod communities when integrated into rotations with cropping systems. Insights may help producers understand how to improve pasture resources for poultry and ultimately address if or how pastures may reduce feed costs for poultry managers. Further, this research may help elucidate whether poultry can be used as biological control agents of pests associated with crops in future rotations.
