incaster Farming, Saturday, March 6,1971
-Li
6
,a
For yeais, the faimer and his
manure spieader have been the
brunt of many a joke from non
frll m people
But manuie is not a joke to
faimeis, noi to suburbanites
who have moved m close to
fca ms
In fact, animal waste disposal
is fast becoming the number one
pioblem of farms and feedlots
across the continent
The increasing number of ag
engineers, economists, soils men
and ciops men who have consid
ered the pioblem in recent years
agree it is becoming one of the
most serious problems in agri
culture
These expeits predict the pro
blem of disposing of waste will
become even more serious in the
coming decade because of sev
eial lecogmzable trends These
include the increasing squeeze
on faimeis as suburbs expand
into farmland and non-faim peo
ple seek a home by the road in
the country
Also adding to the problem is
the increase in livestock numbers
needed to feed a growing popu
lation, the increase m size of
individual livestock and poultiy
•operations, coupled with the
•tiencl toward confinement hous
ing
There is also a gradual de
cease, in aieas, of easily
available ciop and pasture acre
age where manure can be spiead
efficiently throughout the yeai,
and increasing use of commercial
fertilizers that can supply most
of the major plant nutrients,
v/hich faimers once depended on
manure to provide.
In short, there will be moie
waste produced as a result of
increased livestock production
and less land on which to dispose
of it
Editoi’s note As fewer farmers aie called on to pro
duce moie food and as urban residential areas sprawl into
farmland areas, growing amounts of animal wastes accumu
late and become a disposal problem.
As awareness of and concern about the environment
grows, the issue of animal wastes can be expected to be
come moie important.
Most agricultural authorities recognize animal wastes
as important by-products of farming and as important as
sets of the farmer. The key issues for the farmer, as this
article by the New Holland Division of Sperry Rand points
out, are to find the best and most economical use of the
wastes and to use the wastes in a manner that is inoffen
sive to neighbors and compatible with a clean environment
Ag researchers across North
Amenca have been studying the
problem and have come up with
some interesting observations,
if no clear cut solutions
Odors and possible pollution
problems from animal wastes
have become so prevalent in
some areas where faims, towns
and submbs intei mingle, that
teams of expeits have joined
foices to help farmeis find a
solution
Near Plainfield, N J, wastes
fiom a huge 2,300-cow dauy
operation, formerly dehydrated
and sold as a garden soil condi
tional, have tuggeied piotests
about odors from new home
owneis in the area No less
than 23 local, state, fedeial and
private agencies aie concentra
ting on the problem, with Rut
gers University providing a te
seaich task force undei the
leadership of Agricultural En
gineer Harry Besley.
In Canada, L R Weber and
Tom Lane of the University of
Guelph in Ontario have done
some work in determining the
acreage needed to handle man-
ure from various farming oper
ations
In studying the manure output
of various poultry, swine, dan>
and cattle feeding installations,
Lane and Weber have calculated
maximum ciop utilization of
manure
For instance, the pair'found
that for maximum ciop utilza
tion of the manuie from a 100,-
000-capacity bi oiler operation
duung a 10-week period, 100
acres of corn load is needed foi
spieadmg In furthei study the
Canadians found similai acreage
is needed for a 365-da> operation
ot 10,000 layeis, 1 000 hogs, 200
feeders oi 100 dany cattle
A variety oi other studies is
undei way how to best handle
the growing mountain of animal
waste from large centi ahzed live
stock operations
Along with pits, lagoons, tanks
and the like, the researchers are
working on methods for com
posting the solids and injecting
(Continued on Page 11)
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