With a wide variety of manure management and nutrient recovery technologies available to dairy producers today, it can be difficult to know which one would be the best investment.

Balancing manure and fertilizer applications, crop production and environmental conservation is an ongoing challenge. Having the knowledge and understanding of several foundational principles of nutrient management can aid in making better farming decisions.

Livestock manure is a highly variable fertilizer. Its composition can vary depending on the age of the animal, feedstuffs consumed and the way it is agitated and removed from storage, just to name a few reasons.

The adoption of anaerobic digesters in the dairy industry hit a roadblock as the original financial incentives expired. However, new policies have digesters powering up again in a push to provide renewable natural gas (RNG).

Farmers have been adopting no-till cropping methods to reduce sediment loss. However, tillage has been touted as a way to incorporate manure into soils to minimize nutrient loss.

“What is my manure worth?” This is a common question I get once a producer understands what I do and my role with Nutrient Advisors. As any good consultant would answer, I say, “It depends.”

Dairy operations looking to add a manure processing or treatment option to the farm need to first understand what is driving this change.

On-farm nitrogen management is important to ensure you are meeting production goals, maximizing return on investment and protecting air and water resources. Nitrogen is essential to the growth of all plants and animals and is typically the most limiting nutrient in agricultural production.

Imagine a regular day on the farm. You’re going about your chores as usual until the pump in the manure transfer pit under the barn breaks. You go down in the pit to fix it, but suddenly you’re overcome by manure gas.

Reading and interpreting a nutrient management plan (NMP) can be intimidating. The plan has a lot of charts, numbers and symbols. Restriction maps include a lot of squiggly lines, different-colored hash marks and a multitude of setback symbols that aren’t immediately obvious.