Animal Manure Management

In sugar beet production, most farmers do not have an option of manure as an alternative N source since N availability from manure can occur too late in the season and affect sugar quality. Composted cattle manure as different as it is from fresh manure might be a viable alternative N source for sugar beet production.

Growth in Nebraska’s livestock and poultry industries is greatly influenced by county zoning and local decision-making. Variation in policies among counties and in decisions made by county officials creates significant challenges for current and prospective livestock operations and for rural communities looking to remain vibrant and create new revenue to support local resources. The Nebraska Livestock Siting Assessment Matrix is approved for use and recently updated for continued dissemination by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.

Manure application improves your soil's health and productivity. This article introduces those benefits for soils' physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.

An undesirable combination of precipitation events and freeze/thaw cycles has contributed to some very muddy feedlot surfaces in the winter and spring of 2019 in Nebraska. Preventative design and management options exist for minimizing the occurrence and extent of muddy open feedlot conditions, but very few ‘fixes’ exist for addressing muddy conditions once they are in place. Additional information on your options follows...

A Conservation Activity Plan or CAP is a plan developed for producers to identify conservation practices to address a specific natural resource need. Applications are taken on a continuous basis with cut-off dates established to rank eligible applications. Eligible producers may apply at their local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office.

Antimicrobial resistant infections have been recognized worldwide as a significant threat to public health in recent years. As new research continues to help us understand and characterize AMR populations and potential risks associated with them, developing a nationwide capacity for conducting effective scientific outreach and education on this topic has become critical. In summer 2018, a nationwide team of research and extension professionals was assembled to design and deliver extension programming on AMR.

It is important that farmers and agriculturalists to implement practices to reduce the runoff of antibiotics. This article helps recognize existing conservation practices one has already implemented that are limiting these risks and additional options that may be considered.

Agriculture in the United States provides a contribution to greenhouse gases, accounting for 9% of total emissions (US EPA). Animal agriculture is a large contributor. In beef production, both cow-calf operations and feedlots produce these gases. By implementing simple changes in cattle’s diet, though, there are several ways to reduce the number of these greenhouse gas emissions.

On a brisk April day, I was traveling with a group of adventurers through the wilds of the Minnesota country side. We came upon a steep embankment and climbed it so that we might see what lay beyond. When I reached the top, and the crowd around me had parted, I thought for a moment I might suddenly have traded places with Samwise Gamgee, hobbit, because I was gazing out onto a field of what reminded me very much of the steaming slag pits of Mordor.  However, rather than an apocalyptic hell-scape I was instead looking at a premier example of sustainable agriculture.

Animal agriculture often endures criticism from neighbors and consumers relative to sustainability. But when it comes to management of carbon and nutrients, animal agriculture has a positive story to share. Many environmental and sustainability organizations promote the importance of a “circular economy” for increasing sustainability. Those engaged with Nebraska agriculture should help our neighbors and consumers recognize agriculture’s long term practice of implementing this circular economy. This article will help introduce agriculture’s circular economy for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), carbon (C), and other nutrients and messages you might share with neighbors and consumers about the Nebraska Advantage for sustainability.