C2-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 8, 1992 Pi •nil Itry ’Ol Penn State Poultry T \ Pointers r DEALING WITH SURPLUS MANURE Leon Ressler Extension Agent Agriculture/Environment Lancaster County The cornerstone of manure management m the 1990 s is deve loping a nutrient management plan. Nutrient management simply suited is bringing nutrient (lows into balance on a farm. Manure nutrients are applied at a rale cal culated to meet crop needs and build adequate soil fertility. Alter subtracting total crop needs from the total manure nutri ents produced on a farm, one may still have a balance of nutrients remaining. Developing a plan to utilize these extra nutrients is an important step in nutrient management. The first thing one should con sider in this situation is alternative cropping patterns which will util ize more nutrients. One should view crops as nutrient consumers and look lor combinations that utilize the maximum amounts of nutrients. A typical crop on poultry farms is com harvested as grain, which consumes 150 pounds of nitrogen (N), 15 pounds of phosphorous (P), and 60 pounds of potassium (K) per acre (150 bushel/acre yield). A farmer may have a neighbor who is a livestock producer who may be interested in buying the crop as corn silage (22 tons/acrc) double-cropped with ryclagc. This double crop combination will con sume 220N-120P-150K. Other alternatives to consider include orchardgrass hay, which consumes 240N-40P-360K if you harvest six tons per acre, or reed canarygrass J I /ZMlg? DELUXE FIELD SOLAR-PAK MODEL (DF-SP-SS) Solar-Pak uses free energy of the sun to charge its powerful bat tery for maximum shock day or night. Eliminates expensive battery replacement or inconvenient recharging. For the First time, you have power line convenience in a battery fencer. Solar-Pak will pay hr itself many times over with savings in bat tenes and time. Will operate 21 days in total darkness. 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Another option is to increase cropping acreage by land-purchase or long-term lease. Land-purchase based on manure disposal alone could rarely be justified financial ly. However, it may work for your particular situation. If a farmer plans a new opera tion and is counting on leased land to utilize the additional manure produced, a long-term lease is essential. The lease should be long enough to enable you to recover your investment in facilities if this is your only manure utilization option. A third option that will be the most practical for many is direct marketing of the surplus manure to another operation. Many poultry larmers have been successful at this venture. I met one poultryman last year who told me he buys a new car each year with his profit Irom his poultry manure sales. Several points should be kept in mind if one wants to market his manure to others. Keeping the manure dry is a must. The drier the product, the further one can justify AT Find out more at the Pennsylvania Ag Days! See Us At Ag Log. E. 6th St. THINGS ARE HAPPENING Morton Buildings! & * gi •aSl’ - i /•* > P.O. Box 361, 3368 York Rd., P.O. Box 126, Contra Hall, Gettysburg, Phllllpaburg, PA 16828 PA 17325 NJ 08865 814/364-9500 717/624-3331 908/454-7900 i mi. w of Jot. w a 45 shipping it, since it has a higher value per ton. As in all business, there is com petition, and one must remember what the competition offers in order to compete successfully. One of the advantages of com mercial fertilizer is its conveni ence. One could increase market opportunities by making use of his manure more convenient by offer ing delivery or custom application service. Twenty two percent of those responding to a manure marketing survey I conducted said they were only interested In using another’s manure if application service was available. Manure testing is impor tant to give one’s customers some idea of the nutrient value of his manure. Remember, however, that the manure test is only a guideline and not a guarantee, as are the numbers on the fertilizer bag. In order to promote manure marketing, I have been developing manure supplier and receiver lists. This list is organized by county and township and is updated and ■* <•!*£ sent out annually to participants. If you are interested in participating in this information exchange, con uict me at the Lancaster County Cooperative Extension Office at (717) 394-6851. A fourth possibility for utilizing surplus manure is processing the manure for sale in an altered form. Composting is being done success fully by some poultry producers m Pennsylvania. The primary disad vantages of composting are the investment in facilities and the time required to manage the opera tion. However, the process reduces flics, odor, and volume of manure as well as creates a product which has more potential markets than Ircsh manure. The potential for success is there for those with good marketing skills. If after developing a nutrient management plan you determine you have more manure than you can utilize in your operation, care fully evaluate these options. Simply going back over the same acres with the manure spreader an additional lime is not an option. Contact
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