Ohio Farm News
By Roger Bender

Too often, livestock manure is viewed as a “necessary evil” to deal with by livestock farmers, government agencies and the general public. Too often, regulatory personnel refer to cattle-, swine- and poultry-generated organic fertilizer as animal waste.

What a bunch of manure!

Livestock manure is a valuable resource that feeds our crop production systems. Agriculture’s challenge is to embrace new management concepts and technology enabling us to maximize manure’s value while minimizing any potential for adverse environmental impact.

The Aug. 19 Ohio State University Manure Science Review features 10 educational sessions on handling, managing and utilizing manure. Conducted in the northwestern Ohio community of Continental, on-site registration begins at 9:30 a.m. in the American Legion hall located at 109 South 5th Street. Preregistration costs $25 before Aug. 13 ($30 afterward) and includes a continental breakfast and lunch.

Morning session
Hours 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Lake Erie P Task Force, Kevin Elder, Ohio Department of Agriculture, Livestock Environmental Permitting Program - Hear an overview of the task force’s findings, including possible point and non-point sources of phosphorus (P), changes in nutrient practices and other factors that could be contributing to increased levels of Dissolved Reactive P and impacting water quality.

Lake Erie EQIP, Mark Scarpitti, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service - Evaluate opportunities provided by the NRCS to help improve water quality in Lake Erie, including how participating farms can receive financial and technical assistance to develop and implement an advanced level conservation plan.

Control Structures for Managing Nutrients, Larry Brown, Ohio State University, Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center & Extension – Check out the design and installation of subsurface drainage control structures that can be used to manage flow and minimize runoff when applying liquid manure.

Nitrification Inhibitors, Robert Mullen, OSU, OARDC & Extension - Learn about the potential for nitrification inhibitors to slow conversion of ammonium to nitrate and their effectiveness in minimizing the risk of runoff of nitrogen nutrients.

Manure Plot Study Results, Glen Arnold, OSU Extension, and Albert Maag, Putnam Soil & Water Conservation District - Find out if there’s a difference in yield between using manure to top dress wheat and to side dress corn compared to side-by-side plots using commercial fertilizer.

Lunch

Afternoon session
Hours: 1:30-4 p.m. — Field demonstrations at the Weller Farm (Directions will be provided.)

Tile Control Structures. Arnold & Maag. View working and uninstalled tile control structures and learn how they are used to protect water supplies while enhancing nutrient management.

Cover Crop Plots. Arnold & Maag. Tour cover crop demonstration plots to learn about different crops and planting methods as well as their use in reducing erosion and providing nitrogen.

Smoking Field Tile. Frank Gibbs, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. Get a first-hand view of how subsurface pathways to drain tiles can lead to unexpected discharges of liquid manure.

Shallow Tillage. Arnold, Maag & Scarpitti. Compare shallow tillage techniques to minimize the risk of liquid manure entering tile drains via cracks and worm tubes.

Manure Side-dress. Arnold & Maag. Learn how application of manure to growing corn can extend the application window for improved manure management. Different types of equipment will be demonstrated.

Weather permitting, the afternoon sessions will be repeated Thursday evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. for anyone unable to attend the day program (no CCA or CLM credits for the evening program.)

The full-day program qualifies for five continuing education hours under ODA’s Certified Livestock Manager (CLM) program. Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) credits are also available with 4.5 continuing education units (CEUs) for Soil and Water and 0.5 CEU for Nutrient Management. Download complete details at www.oardc. ohio-state.edu/ocamm/images/MSR10_brochure.pdf

Questions: Contact Mary Wicks at wicks.14@osu.edu or 330.202.3533.

Stay out of “Deep Doo Doo”. Attend the Manure Science Review.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Roger Bender may write to him in care of this publication.