NEW HOLLAND - It’s not fair
to blame North American
dairymen for river and stream
pollution problems if they control
erosion, says Howard Winey of
New Holland. Most dairymen have
ample land for manure disposal.
But many confinement hog and
poultry operations are headed for
difficulty. It’s the same story
almost everywhere intensive
systems are in use.
In the Netherlands, for example,
nearly a third of the country has
been placed off limits for hog and
poultry expansion because of the
manure problems. More manure is
already produced than can be used
by the crops that can grow there.
FORD TRACTORS
GET5120...5200...
S4OO...ORMORE!
...for your trade-in on new
Ford Lawn Products!
Rt. 419 between Schaefferstown and Cornwall,
Lebanon County, Lebanon, PA 17042
717*949-6501 OR TOLL-FREE 1-800-822-2152
Expert says dairymen don’t cause pollution woes
explains Winey, who is product
manager for spreaders at New
Holland.
Since they have too much
manure slurry, they are hauling it
to other areas up to 120 kilometers
away - that’s 75 miles for the tank
truck. The Dutch complain that
they’re “up to their necks in
slurry.”
Legislation limiting the size of
livestock and poultry operations
can be predicted anywhere off
farm pollution problems are
caused, says Winey. It could
happen here, too, he adds. Some
farmers are causing a problem
even if they don’t have animals, he
points out. This is because soil
' ' v( v
t ♦
Save On All Fords At Keller Bros. Tractor Co.
erosion carries off plant food
nutrients in the soil no matter
whether the nutrients come from
manure or from chemical fer
tilizer. Environmentalists often
aren’t really sensitive to this
reality.
When livestock and poultry
numbers are limited to produce
just the amount of manure that the
crop land can use without excess
build-up, the problem stays con
trolled, providing erosion is con
trolled.
Animals on pasture are almost
never a problem because the
numbers just aren’t concentrated
enough to cause a manure
problem. When a dairy is pastured
The Ford 1110 and 1210
REAL TRACTORS
FOR THE HOME & FARM
Whether you want a picture-perfect estate, a high yielding garden, or maybe
both a new Ford 1000 Series tractor is for you! There are over 50 implements
available to do most garden jobs you’ve got. And they’re so nimble and easy to
operate that tractor work is almost tractor fun!
• Six models -11.5 to 28.5 PTO
horsepower
• Fuel efficient diesel power
• 10 or 12-speed transmission
• Optional front-wheel drive
< /V
Lancaster Fanning Saturday, April 12,1986-Dl3
even part of the year, the overall
manure disposal problem usually
doesn’t get out of hand.
It’s estimated a large Holstein
dairy cow will produce a
maximum of 474 pounds of
nitrogen, 142 pounds of phosphate
and 237 pounds of potassium in a
year’s time. That’s assuming the
cow never goes out to pasture.
But much of the nitrogen is in the
,iorm of ammonia and is lost to the
atmosphere, unless it is stored as a
liquid or treated with phosphate.
Not nearly the entire amount is
available for crop production.
Winey points out this also means
that the potential amount of
nitrogen that could wash into
• Live hydraulics
• 540 rpm PTO
• Category 13-point hitch
• Check the features. Then stop by
and test one for yourself
streams and rivers is also much
less than the total amount
produced.
Where erosion is controlled,
dairymen ’ usually aren’t causing
problems and it’s unfair to blame
them for the problems caused by
large swine and poultry operations
that have already created serious
ground water nitrate problems in a
few places.
Unless other solutions are found,
the confinement hog and poultry
operations may face the need to
move their manure longer
distances to farms that can use
additional manure.
♦/ y
> ll *
•yf >
.-'i?