Making Sense of Treatment Technology Options for Livestock Farms

Have you ever wondered whether manure should be treated on your livestock operation? What technology will work best in your situation? This webinar discusses strategies for selecting the right technology to meet your farm’s needs and reviews some proven and emerging technologies that are showing promise for the dairy industry. This presentation was originally broadcast on February 16, 2018. More…

What software do you need to view the slides and the videos?
The embedded videos can be viewed full screen …

How much land will I need for land-applying manure from dairy cattle?

Many factors impact land requirements including:
1) Dairy feeding program: Feeding excess protein or P increases N and P excretion.
2) Animal performance: Higher-producing cows excrete more manure; 90 lb milk/day was assumed in the example below.
3) Crop yields: A 24-ton/acre and 6-ton/acre yield for corn silage and alfalfa was assumed in the example below.
4) Use of manure on legume crops: Lack of economic return from manure N and possible damage to alfalfa may discourage use of manure …

What’s the P Index?

The P Index is the Phosphorus Index, a risk assessment tool to quantify the potential for phosphorus runoff from a field. The P Index helps to target critical source areas of potential P loss for greater management attention. It includes source and transport factors. Source factors address how much P is available (for example, soil test P level and P fertilizer and manure application amounts). Transport factors evaluate the potential for runoff to occur (for example, soil erosion, distance and …

How can I prevent leaching of nitrate into groundwater from manure applications?

Nitrate contamination of groundwater occurs when excess nitrate in the soil profile moves along with water that is moving down past the root zone of the crop. In most cases, it is not possible to keep water from moving past the roots, so the only other option for preventing nitrate leaching is to avoid having excess nitrate present in the root zone during times when leaching events are likely to occur. Determine the available nitrogen content of manure prior to …