Animal Manure Management

Agricultural Production Animal Manure Management

Animal Manure Management

Recycling local manure nutrients before purchasing fertilizer is key to protecting the environment. Manure can be an economic “Win”, due to its fertility value, and a soil quality “Win”, due to its organic matter.  But it can also be a community risk, due to odors and pathogens. Our live educational programs, online courses, and resources provide science-based information on economically viable, environmentally sound manure handling systems that also comply with all regulations.

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Emergency use of milk as a fertilizer Q&A

Emergency use of milk as a fertilizer questions and answers.
Difficult challenges in the dairy industry such as those resulting from COVID-19 result in times when a market is not available for milk. When those occur, using milk as a crop fertilizer may provide a short-term option for gaining some value from milk. This article will answer several questions about using milk as a fertilizer.

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Monday, April 13, 2020

The connection between soil organic matter and soil water

Soil Aggregate
One benefit of increasing soil organic matter is to store more water in your soil. Why does this happen? Because soil organic matter creates pores in a range of sizes. Exactly how much more water is stored due to soil organic matter will depend on soil texture, though. Animal manures are one option for increasing soil organic matter and soil health.

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Thursday, April 2, 2020

Proposed Changes to Nebraska Recommendations for Manure Nitrogen Credit

This article introduces University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) proposed changes in recommendations for crediting manure nitrogen in a crop’s fertility program.
Managing manure for economic and environmental benefit is based, in part, upon our ability to efficiently recycle manure nitrogen (N) between animals and crops. This article introduces University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) proposed changes in recommendations for crediting manure nitrogen in a crop’s fertility program.

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Monday, March 2, 2020

Manure Nitrogen Use for Increased Profit and Environmental Protection

For many years, the University has used a recommended equivalence of 47% available over the course of 3 years for feedlot manure, 37% for compost, and 52% available for poultry manure with litter. Recent research shows that these numbers may be a little low, but they are intentionally conservative so as not to limit yield due to nitrogen deficiency.

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Thursday, February 27, 2020

Manure Management: Economics, Agronomics, Environment

preview of NDA article
The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has released a new feature article on the manure industry in Nebraska. In the article, which is part one of a two-part series, the author highlights the fact that manure is nature's recycling program.

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