Dairy farmer Dean Swager isn’t one to just maintain the status quo. “If we can do something better, God gave us an opportunity to learn more and be better in our lives,” he said

When it comes to accidents that lead to manure spilling where it doesn’t belong, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension specialist Kevin Erb asks farmers to remember this

Manure collected from open lot animal housing systems varies due to weather conditions, management of cattle and pens, and other factors resulting in substantial changes in manure characteristics

For several years, Nick Dallmann was interested in adding an anaerobic digester to his family’s dairy farm. “I knew some other people who had one, and I saw the benefits from having a digester,”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, within ecosystem and land-use boundaries

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

The author is a senior extension associate for Penn State University.Legislated mandatory certification of custom applicators in Pennsylvania began in 2006 with a unique five-level educational format.

Interpreting manure analysis reports may seem to practically require a doctorate degree. Confusing is just the tip of the iceberg of obstacles one might face when navigating through the ocean of information

Wow! Thats about all I can say about this fall manure application season. It is truly the tale of two different worlds

Biochar is a carbon-based product resulting from pyrolysis, where feedstocks (wood chips, corncobs, or even manure solids, for example) are heated without oxygen to high temperatures to produce oils

Corn silage production offers a great opportunity to plant cover crops for erosion control and water quality benefits. In Northern climates, cover crops can be hard to establish following grain harvest

In their busiest seasons, professional manure applicators are constantly in a race against time to meet the needs of their clients. These farms depend on custom applicators to empty their manure

In recent years, the window of manure application in the Upper Midwest has been limited by wet or unseasonably cold weather

The four R’s of nutrient stewardship, or nutrient management, are commonly referred to when talking about proper nutrient application

Taking samples is an essential step to appropriately apply manure to fields. However, getting an accurate sample of nutrients across livestock systems and differing storages can be challenging

Tillage and manure application are critical nutrient management aspects affecting crop yield potential, soil erosion, and nutrient loss risk

With the extreme weather events in recent years, dairy farmers in certain parts of the country have had a difficult time emptying their manure pits before the winter freeze

For farmers, local geography and climate determine the limiting nutrient for manure application

A long-term study of the impacts of continued poultry manure application on soil health and nutrients, water quality, and crop yield response with economic analysis was completed in the fall of 2017

The manure application challenges of previous generations were certainly different than the challenges of today. We now have equipment that can haul manure for more miles and under varying conditions