Applying poultry litter in the fall to cotton and other row crops is desirable, but whether fall-applied litter is as effective as spring-applied litter is not well investigated. On-farm research conducted at three locations in Mississippi indicated that applying litter in the fall may not be as effective as applying litter in the spring. Cotton responded very poorly to broiler litter in two of three years at Macon, MS where the litter was applied in the fall. Broiler litter applied in the fall at this location increased lint yield by only 76 kg/ha/Mg litter in 2003 and by 49 kg/ha/Mg litter in 2004. The yield response to litter at two other locations in 2003 and 2004 where the litter was applied shortly before or after planting in the spring ranged between 150 and 199 kg/ha/Mg litter. These results suggest that there is substantial risk of loss of mineralized litter-N before planting when litter is applied in the fall. We suspect leaching and denitrification as the primary causes of N loss when soil moisture and temperature conditions in the fall and winter after applying litter are ideal for the mineralization of litter-N.