One effort to address the waste problem is being explored at Mississippi State by graduate student Robin L. Felder of Long Beach and senior Magan P. Green of Sturgis. The microbiology majors are working to identify microorganisms that will help prevent the loss of nitrogen from poultry waste.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the primary ingredients in fertilizer.

"Most poultry waste is used to fertilize pastures," Felder said. "Part of the nitrogen is lost, however, because organisms in the material convert nitrogen into ammonia or nitrogen gas, which can be lost into the air."

Directed by microbiology professor Lewis Brown, the students' research project is supported by a $7,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service Poultry Laboratory at MSU.

Felder and Green hope to find microscopic organisms in chicken litter that will overgrow the nitrogen-releasing microbes, preventing the nitrogen release.