As winter approaches, the challenges associated with cattle manure application become more pronounced. Adopting best practices that maximize nutrient utilization and safeguard water resources is crucial. What follows are critical considerations for cattle manure application in the winter.

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.

As manure applicators, we should know how many gallons or tons we are applying to an acre and should have corresponding documentation. The question is: “How do we determine the rate?”

Manure has left the premises, now what? The manure applicator should have a plan in place before this situation arises. 

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

Manure has valuable nutrients and needs to be treated as such.