Farm Horizons, August 2011

Manure management never ceases

By Lori Brinkman
Carver County Assistant Feedlot Administrator

To everything there is a season. Well, almost everything.

Manure management never ceases, it just changes with the seasons, whether we like it or not. Fear not, however, because we are approaching one of the best seasons for manure management, in my opinion.

Each individual farm likely has its own general plan for land application of manure each fall. Here are a few tips and reminders to integrate into your plan.

1. Call your pumper now! Get on the early list to avoid pit overflow.

2. If your goal is to get one whole pile or manure pack hauled, choose a field or fields with no sensitive features. Sensitive features include open tile or rock inlets, ditches and streams. You can till it in at a later date. Make sure you inform your neighbor of your plans to avoid odor complaints.

3. Know the forecast. If there is a chance of rain or snow, maintain required setbacks or immediately incorporate. If there is NO chance of precipitation, target a field with sensitive features. What matters is that you can get it tilled in before precipitation returns.

4. If this past spring left you behind in your land application, ask a neighboring farm or land renter if they’d like some manure in exchange for help with your manure hauling.

5. Hire tillage help so you can immediately incorporate the majority of manure. What you save in nitrogen nutrients will pay for the hired help.

6. Incorporate manure near sensitive features before the ground freezes. This is especially important with liquid manure.

7. Be mindful of steep slopes leading to sensitive features.

8. Be safe. Here’s hoping for a long, dry fall.

Farm Horizons: Main Menu | 2011 Stories

Herald Journal
Stories | Columns | Obituaries | Classifieds
Guides | Sitemap | Dassel-Cokato Home | Delano Home | HJ Home