MANURE

Dairy farming is a risky business on many levels. With almost every decision, a dairyman must weigh the personal, societal, environmental and financial risks. Not to mention all the potential impacts the decisions may have on the well-being of workers, neighbours and animals.

When removing manure from a storage pit, it typically must be agitated to minimize solids accumulation and create a uniform fertilizer for field application. However, the act of agitation can destroy certain storage liners if its features aren’t taken into consideration.

It may not be the most pleasant part of a dairy operation, but it’s one of the most important: What do you do with all that manure?

Be it liquid manure from a hog or dairy farm, solid manure from a cattle feedlot or litter from a poultry operation, there can be dramatic differences in the quality of nutrients in the manure, its beneficial characteristics for soil and crops, and its impact on neighbours and the environment.

In the dairy industry, we know manure is valuable. But how valuable? Typically we look to nutrient composition as the major indicator of dollars and cents.

However, examining when, where, how, how much and even how well manure is applied can help dairy farms of all sizes start to realize its real value.

Dairy farmers may not have to dig too deep, learn to maintain new equipment or radically change production practices in order to reduce nitrogen runoff from agricultural fields. Good manure management, along with help from a few friendly microbes, may be the next big thing in cleaning up our waterways.