NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

Smell that? Wet weather creates challenges for manure application on Iowa farm fields, Mason City DNR officer says

Mmmmm, lucious: A typical sight in Iowa in fall.

MASON CITY – Driving through rural Iowa this time of year to get to any semblance of civilization can be like being slapped in the face with a wet, pungent diaper; wet weather and heavy rains has made manure storage structure “nearly full” causing application problems.

The Iowa DNR interviewed Trent Lambert, supervisor of DNR’s Mason City field office about what ag producers can do about their overflowing poop basins.

“Unless the weather comes through, many producers simply aren’t going to be in a position to wait for perfect conditions this fall,” officer Lambert says.

Locally saturated soils may leave few crop fields available. But DNR has specific options for confinement site producers and commercial applicators to consider—as they work to protect water quality and keep storage from overflowing.

“Producers faced a similar situation last year when some were forced to land apply manure on frozen and/or snow-covered ground,” Lambert said. “I think we would all agree this is the least desirable option, based upon the potential for negative water quality impacts and nitrogen loss.”

“My first recommendation is to deal with storage issues sooner rather than later,” he added. “Ideally producers would wait until soil temperatures drop to 50 degrees to minimize nitrogen loss. But if manure storage is tight, producers may want to weigh the risks and advantages of applying at the first available opportunity instead of waiting.”

Some options to consider include transferring manure to another storage location or land applying on non-traditional crop acres, like hay ground. Other options might include partially emptying basins, hand-picking application fields, reducing rates until fields dry out or adjusting manure management plans for surface application.

Note: Several choices require changes in the manure management plan, or have requirements such as meeting separation distances. For more detailed recommendations developed last year, see Some Tips for Confinement Manure Application.

Producers with totally roofed facilities (confinements) must retain all manure between periods of application. So first, and most important, call the DNR field office to discuss site-specific alternatives.

Judging from the eye-water aroma in rural Iowa, there is no chance that producers are simply applying as much manure as their machinery will spew out on a daily basis.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

10 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Watercooler
Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
10
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x