# Dairy Manure



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Wish I could get some nearby.

Regards, Mike

http://www.dairyherd.com/magazine/balance-manure-nutrients-and-crop-needs


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Is dairy manure still applied in liquid form? Asking because the picture in the article had a dry spreader.

I also wish I could get dairy manure spread.


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

Around here it still is, but it has issues...but everything does.

We always tried to spread as much solid manure on our corn fields as possible so that we could get more organic matter in the soil, though we were not organic farmers by any means. This really worked and soil testing has proven we might have done too well of a job; we are on the high side or organic matter actually.

On grass ground we tried to spread our liquid manure. This worked well, but here is the rub....here they do not fund liquid manure pits with roofs so the lagoons fill with rain water. 97% of what we trucked was actually pure water, only 3% had NPK to it. It still worked well enough, don't get me wrong, but the nitrogen levels were determined by how the farm operated.

We liked to stir the lagoon for a few days, letting the manure that settled to the bottom churn for awhile so that every load was uniform in content. Failing to do so meant you might be spreading water on one field, and pure manure on another. To get as much nitrogen into soil as possible, on corn ground we tilled as soon after spreading manure as possible. Still we sprayed liquid urea on the corn to form a better ear. With grass ground we liked to spread right before a rain so that it soaked in, but never used urea; always relying on dairy cow manure.

The article was too short to really take into account everything with dairy cow manure however because you must watch your heavy metals in the soil. Since copper is added to grain, and dairy cows get a lot of the latter, the copper levels in our soil are actually high, along with zinc, also added to grain. This was an issue when I was co-farming my sheep farm with the dairy farm because sheep cannot tolerate copper at all; anything over 8 PPM will kill them so it was a huge concern.

Ironically the success and failure of the dairy farm was over dairy cow manure. There were other factors to its demise, BUT here in Maine the land base is 90% forest and 10% field. That meant the farthest field was 33 miles away, and so trucking that much manure so far away cost a lot in diesel fuel, especially when only 3% is doing any good. Ultimately it was one factor of many that made it unprofitable to dairy farm. However, the ability to farm without as much fertilizer inputs helped since the cows provided it. But the long and short of it is that we no longer have dairy cows. :-(


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

When I first saw this topic title, I thought I saw "Daily Manure" and wondered what Trump and Clinton where up to now.

Getting back to the original topic, I would love to get my hands on as much manure as possible. I wish I lived close to a big cattle operation. But, from what I understand, hog manure is the best! And I would never, ever want to live next, i.e., 10 miles, to a hog operation!

Ralph


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Most all of the dairies within 100 miles (really even farther) have packed up and moved to "greener pastures".... would like to try some on occasion.

Good post ruttedfield, with all "organic fertilizer" we must be careful with continued applications and diligently watch soil sampling......


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

rjmoses said:


> When I first saw this topic title, I thought I saw "Daily Manure" and wondered what Trump and Clinton where up to now.
> 
> Getting back to the original topic, I would love to get my hands on as much manure as possible. I wish I lived close to a big cattle operation. But, from what I understand, hog manure is the best! And I would never, ever want to live next, i.e., 10 miles, to a hog operation!
> 
> Ralph


I think sheep manure is actually the best. It has twice what dairy cow manure has and comes in convenient pellet form.

My sheep naturally bed with hay (that is, they are very fussy eaters) so I got a big pile composting now. I am not organic in any way, but I like the hay in it to break down over a season or two. I just stirred the pile yesterday with my bulldozer. The neighbors love me, but I am protected by Maine's Right to Farm Act (smell).


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## Hugh (Sep 23, 2013)

"My sheep naturally bed with hay (that is, they are very fussy eaters) so I got a big pile composting now. I am not organic in any way, but I like the hay in it to break down over a season or two. I just stirred the pile yesterday with my bulldozer. The neighbors love me, but I am protected by Maine's Right to Farm Act (smell)."

Montana has a "right to farm" act as well. The twenty acres next to us that was alfalfa was sold and new houses have been and are being built on the twenty acres. One of the neighbors in one of the new houses complained about a little water from our wheel line hitting his back "lawn." His back yard is mostly weeds that he mows. I now have decided to bale at 2-3AM with our old New Holland 277 that, with every stroke sounds like a train wreck and the sound echoes off all of these new houses and I watch the lights come on.


Like This

Quote
MultiQuote


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Some dry manure nutrient concentrations:

Animal N P2O5 K2O

------------lb/ton------------

Dairy 11 5 11

Beef 14 9 11

Hogs 10 7 8

Laying hens 20 16 8

According to RuttedField, two responses below:

Sheep 20 9 17

Thank you


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

We spread mostly on hay ground we feel it fulfills the nutrient requirements better than it would for corn and adds organic matter that chemical fertilizer doesn't, makes a big difference when it gets dry


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

Sheep has a NPK of 20/9/17!!


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

It is interesting how manure can really make or break a community...yes a community.

Where I live in Waldo County, Maine we used to have hundreds of chicken barns for broilers. Some barns were built to hold 200,000 birds and many farms had 4-6 barns. It was great because the chicken industry supported two slaughterhouses in Belfast, where as my town had two grain mills and the next town over had a hatchery. This kept the local railroad going in moving freight.

Farming was great because this was potato farming and dairy farming country at the time. Since a chicken farmer only required a few acres of land to build his barns, the excess chicken manure (called hen dressing) was abundant and cheap. So high in NPK, the potato farmers could grow potatoes really cheap! So could the dairy farmers.

The community was vibrant because you had so many people working in town. That was great for the local fire department because when a fire broke out during the day, farmers were around to help put it out. Even in my little town of 700 people, we had 3 stores, a gas station, post office, machine shop and museum.

Two things happened; the price of oil went up in the early 80's that our cold climate relied upon to keep the chicken barns warm, and the editor of the local paper despised the chicken industry and wanted Belfast to be a Camden Maine (tourist trap) instead. Angered over the sight of feathers from trucks rolling by to the 2 chicken slaughterhouses, every week he stirred the public up with articles in the paper, and caused many lawsuits against the slaughterhouses; putting the final nail in their coffin as well as the high cost of fuel that made up the pine box construction.

Today we have NOTHING! All the chicken barns are rotted or torn down. The two slaughterhouses are parks. The hatchery is a storage facility, both grain mills have been torn down. There are no stores or even a gas station in my town. When a fire breaks out during the day, because so many people are in Bangor, Belfast or at their jobs far away, there is an automatic COUNTY WIDE call for help to put out the fire...no one is available to help! The Railroad has been abandoned. The poverty rate is 20%, but 60% are on welfare. There are NO potato farmers...NONE, not one left! Dairy farming is here and is holding on...but barely, and that editor that hated the chicken industry so badly...when he got what he wanted, he took off for the hills.

As you can see, a lot of collateral dame occurred because of the loss of the chicken industry...and a lot from the manure that they generated. High nitrogen manure at that which allowed other farming entities to flourish.

But there is hope!

Today we have very few paper mills left, but Maine is the most heavily forested state in the nation. With new outside boilers and plenty of wood to fuel them, efficiently constructed barns with new insulating techniques and radiant floor heat COULD revitalize a former industry and compete with the south.The northeast could produce the abundant broilers we used to. We could churn out great manure and limit expensive chemical fertilizers, provide jobs to farmers, loggers, railroads, mill workers and truckers. It really could happen, but the greenies would have to step aside and let slaughterhouses be built, PETA would have to shut up about cruelty to the birds, and COOL labels would have to stay adhered to the chicken containers. But yes it could happen.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

And don't leave out the EPA and runoff pollution from your "hen dressing"....that sure is a polite term. 

Regards, Mike


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

This is what I use at 4 tons per acre. This is total clean out, decake runs 55-35-35.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

So do you spread on corn, beans, and hay?

Regards, Mike


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Vol said:


> So do you spread on corn, beans, and hay?
> 
> Regards, Mike


Just in front of corn in a corn/soybean rotation.


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

Vol said:


> "hen dressing"....that sure is a polite term.


I wasn't being politically correct, for whatever reason that is what we call it here...or did until the chicken farms went south...literally (no heating costs there).


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

We farmed all bottom ground for corn for the dairy in SE IA. All cows were on concrete from 3 months on, so a lot of open pit storage (milking 350, plus all replacements). We would pump what we could, in 2 slurry tankers, then the rest was hauled in 2 big knight spreaders. Hay ground got a very light application of mostly liquid. Our bottom ground was plastered 3-6 inches deep then deep ripped. We had not applied P or K in over 25 years. Still put down anhydrous. We hit 300 bu. corn on several years.

Storage systems are getting tought to manage, as well as new regualtions to apply. We always worked with Iowa DNR to implement catch basins, wetlands settlign basin, etc. They were a lot more forgiving if you approached them rather than getting hit with mandated changes after a problem. The dairy sold in 2008, and was good timing, as Dad said the new law for applciation of manure does not allow for spreading on frozen ground. This would have shut us down, as we usually kept a 40 or 50 acre field unworked and hauled manure all winter to it. If we didn't have the pits empty by spring when we worked ground, we were screwed. We had to have enough storage until our wehat ground was chopped and we could haul again, IF weather allowed.


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

Wow you got me started on CNMP's or Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans. Here in Maine it is even worse because we are the ONLY state in the nation that requires a Agricultural Enginner to sign off on them...and guess what, there are two. That means ever CNMP done goes through them and it is a racket. Both retired early from the NRCS seeing the writting on the wall and how much money could be made.

How much money?

The last year a CNMP was done on th big dairy farm (1200 cows) on 46 rented farms, the cost was $30,000 and eligible for review every 5 years. That would be like buying a $30,000 tractor every 5 years without producing work...just paper never to be seen again.

It is beyond stupid.

They say the Mayan Civilization was never destroyed by famine, natural disaster or marauding armies, but rather by the complexity of their own civilization that imploded upon itself. Today where we must have laws to combat laws to combat laws (clean water act that caused CNMP act that caused the Right to Farm Act) I completely see this nation self imploding under its own silly rules.

Think I am way off base? Maybe, but the Maine Attorney General's office on their own website warns taxpayers that they cannot enforce every law enacted. To me it is just a sign that things are getting out of hand. Inefficiency (bureaucracy) breeds inefficiency (bureaucracy).


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