Manure

As we hit a time in the growing season where things typically slow down a little, now may be the best time to take a few hours to plan your fall and winter manure applications. Although spring is the best time to apply manure, few of us have the storage capabilities to apply all our manure in the spring. This article is for those who will need to apply manure this fall and possibly this winter.

News reports have surfaced detailing flash fires and explosions in livestock buildings while liquid pit manure was being agitated and pumped. For this reason, Extension staff are urging caution when agitating and pumping manure from pits beneath buildings.

A recently completed study by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the Department of Natural Resources has increased the understanding of air emissions and odors on larger-sized livestock farms, and lays the groundwork for future studies in this important area, officials say.

Manure dairy nutrients to maintain yields while protecting water quality requires having the infrastructure in place that will enable the nutrients to be land-applied at appropriate rates.

As plans for planting and getting into fields accelerate, preparing ahead for manure application will help to streamline the process, insure proper nutrient application rates to support anticipated crop yields, prevent nutrient losses, and comply with manure application regulations.

Liquid manure is a valuable source of nutrients and organic matter for crop production and may be applied by a variety of methods including irrigation, surface spreading and shallow subsurface injection. With a low nutrient concentration, liquid animal manure may be applied at relatively high volumes, but it is generally recommended that it not be applied at rates that exceed the soil infiltration rate, nor exceed the amount needed to bring the soil to field water-holding capacity. Liquid manure discharges from agricultural drains have been reported in soils with subsurface (tile) drainage due to macropore flow.