I had the pleasure of knowing a soil scientist with USDA whose last project was completing the soil survey for Darke County, Ohio, where I live. He retired here, and we became good friends, sharing ou

Has the time finally come? I have worked with all types of livestock and poultry projects over the past 46 years and have come to the following conclusion: Nutrient management determines success or failure

As a college student in the 1970s, I read the 1940 vintage book You are what you eat by Victor Lindlahr

I assumed to have seen everything of importance after 45 years of nutrient management. That changed in 2022. About a decade ago, I assisted a significant client in siting and permitting a fully i

I’ve written numerous articles and made many presentations extolling the virtues of manure. Yes, we know it has some unpleasant characteristics and can be dangerous when not respected, but when well

I recently helped a client work through a regulatory quagmire. The violation was a storage pond freeboard exceedance. The resolution was application of manure on cropland — two months later. An anti

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal recently about how food is produced and labeled. The following statement raised my ire: “Confinement livestock operations have polluted ground and surfac

One of the enigmas of manure management is how to account for the nitrogen it provides after application. Some discount it altogether, assuming it has either all been lost or simply “unavailable.”

I have developed countless manure management plans over the past 44 years. They all boil down to three basic principles: quantity, quality, and opportunity

You’ve got a problem, and we’ve got the solution!” How many times has that statement made you bristle? Often, we deny that we have a problem but readily admit better solutions might be...

There was a period of time when phosphorus was rarely a consideration with manure applications — it was all about nitrogen. Now nitrogen is a secondary consideration and phosphorus is paramount.&nbs

Over 40 years ago, I told a client not to put any fertilizer on his corn crop — zero — after a liberal application of poultry manure. Five months later, a record corn yield was seen