Working outdoors will always be unpredictable, and the narrow window of time when applying manure means there is less time to wait for good ground conditions. With heavy equipment and variable field environments, there are steps that can be taken to minimize damage to field during slurry application. 

Manure is a gift and a curse for dairy farmers. It becomes the dark cloud for dairy operations, being the source of time constraints, nutrient runoff and financial strains. Finding methods and approaches that bring consistency and flexibility to applications is often hard to find. That was, until conservation agriculture.

For the first time since 2019, the Midwest is mostly clear of drought advisories, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In fact, May was one of the wettest months on record for Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota and regions of Michigan, with above-normal precipitation continuing throughout the growing season. Such weather has dairy producers in a pinch to manage manure appropriately.

Dairy producers have a valuable resource in the form of manure to provide home-grown nutrients for sustainable crop production and organic matter back to their soil. However, managing that manure responsibly comes at the cost of cash, labor, and environmental challenges