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Manure Science
Review: Maximize Crop Benefits, Minimize Water Risks
From Sam Custer
OSU Extension, Darke County
Manure Science Review this year will have a clear focus on water.
The annual learning event will present more than a dozen sessions on
getting the most from the nutrients in manure while limiting the chance
of them reaching lakes and streams. It’s for farmers and others in the
industry.
“Manure is an excellent soil amendment and provides nutrients for crop
growth,” said Glen Arnold, an organizer of the event and manure
nutrient management systems field specialist for Ohio State University
Extension.
“Every positive step we take in properly applying manure is a positive
step in the direction of better water quality,” he said.
OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural,
and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
Curbing farm nutrient runoff is in the spotlight due to the harmful
algal blooms plaguing Lake Erie, Grand Lake St. Marys and other water
bodies.
The issue made headlines last summer when toxins from a western Lake
Erie algal bloom caused a two-day water use ban in Toledo.
Experts think the blooms are fueled by excess nutrients in the water,
especially phosphorus from farm runoff.
Manure Science Review is 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 12 at Mississinawa
Valley High School, 10480 Staudt Road, in Union City, Ohio, on the
border with Indiana.
The speakers at the event will come from the college; from county,
state and federal agencies; and from the farming community and
agricultural industry.
Arnold will be one of them, presenting “Extending the Application
Window” together with farmer Tom Harrod of Darke County’s Harrod Farms.
They’ll discuss using swine finishing manure on emerged corn as a
substitute for side-dressed nitrogen.
Other sessions, for example, will cover how to meet Ohio’s new
fertilizer regulations, including the ban on applying manure to frozen
or snow-covered ground; how to minimize runoff based on a recent
statewide study of nutrient movement in fields; and how to prevent
manure spills and respond to them if they happen.
Another session will look at lessons learned last winter in western
Ohio. A thaw after farmers had spread manure on snowy fields caused a
rash of runoff problems in streams.
Afternoon field demonstrations will feature composting manure,
calibrating a solid manure spreader, using a new subsurface poultry
litter injector, planting and applying manure to cover crops, using a
smoke test to show nutrient runoff risks through subsurface tile
drainage, and more.
Find full details on the speakers, topics and continuing-education
credits in the event flier, which can be downloaded at
go.osu.edu/MSR2015.
Registration is $25 by Aug. 4, $30 after that date, and includes a
continental breakfast and lunch.
Register using the form in the flier at go.osu.edu/MSR2015, or send
your name, contact information and check for payment to Mary Wicks,
OARDC/OSU, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, OH 44691. Make checks payable to
OARDC/OSU.
In response to Toledo’s water crisis, the college last year established
a new comprehensive water quality program. Called Field to Faucet, it
aims to ensure safe water for all Ohioans while keeping the state’s
farms productive and profitable.
Columbus had its own water scare in June, when heavy rains and
subsequent runoff of sewage, manure and fertilizer led to unsafe
nitrate levels in the city’s tap water and a water-use advisory for
infants and pregnant women.
Co-hosting Manure Science Review are the college, the Ohio Department
of Agriculture, Ohio’s soil and water conservation districts, the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Soil and Water Resources,
the Darke Soil and Water Conservation District, Ohio Farm Bureau,
Cooper Farms, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The event’s sponsors include Ohio Farm Bureau, the Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency, the Ohio Livestock Coalition, Ag Credit-Country
Mortgages, Cooper Farms and Quellz Products Inc.
For more information on the event, call 330-202-3533 or email
wicks.14@osu.edu.
For more information about OSU Extension, Darke County, visit the Darke
County OSU Extension web site at www.darke.osu.edu, the OSU Extension
Darke County Facebook page or contact Sam Custer, at 937.548.5215.
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