The early harvest this year has created opportunities to complete fall field work and manure applications much earlier than usual. However, applying manure before soils have cooled to below 50°F can be a costly decision. Pushing manure application to later in the fall or waiting until spring can help to prevent nitrogen loss and better match nutrient availability with nutrient demand by crops.
As fields get harvested many farmers are making fall manure applications. Managed properly, manure can be an excellent source of valuable nutrients, but it can also pose risks to water quality when applied long before a crop is present to take up the nitrogen provided by manure. This ICM Blog will discuss considerations on how to maximize the use of manure nutrients for crop production and minimize potential water quality impacts by taking a closer look at an on-going research project at the Northeast Research and Demonstration farm near Nashua, IA.
Want to maximize use of manure nutrients for crop production and reduce potential impacts of water quality? Here is a top 10 list of best management practices.
Manure applicators can use this ten-item checklist to prepare for fall applications.
