The overall objective of manure management should be to take as many excretable manure nutrients to the soil and have them used by plants for optimal crop yield. This reduces the need to purchase feed and inorganic fertilizer.
Clean, safe water for consumption, recreation, irrigation, manufacturing, and fish and wildlife habitat is important to Oregonians. Nonpoint source pollution is the major cause of water quality degradation in Oregon.
Published April 1996. Reprinted August 1997. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Nutrients and microorganisms in manure can cause water quality problems. When you collect, handle, and land spread manure, this material can get into surface or groundwater supplies. The level of risk depends on many factors.
Most dairies need no commercial fertilizer if they use manure properly. In most cases, manure can supply all the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and several other nutrients needed for forage production.
Keeping track of nutrient levels in dairy pastures has become an important part of farm management plans. The current recommendation is to fertilize pastures at a level to replace, in equal measure, the nutrients removed through grazing or cutting each year. The Confined Animal Feeding Operations Program (CAFO) run by...
Revised April 2004. A more recent revision exists. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Whether your goal is to manage manure application to balance for nitrogen or for phosphorus, knowing how much nutrient you are applying is a crucial step toward ideal manure management. Determining the relationship between volume of waste and the amount of nutrients applied is essential.