Nutrient Management Plans: What Are They How Do I Get Started

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Nutrient Management Plans What Are They?How Do
I Get Started?
Brad Joern Department of Agronomy
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What I Will Cover Today

• Why We Do (or Should) Care
• Overview of Manure Production
• Potential Number of Plans
• Strategic vs. Tactical Plans
• Plan Components
• Software Requirements
• Complexity of Planning/Reviewing Process

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Why Do We Care About Nutrient Management
Planning?
1998 EPA National Water Quality Inventory stated
that nearly 40 of U.S. waters are too polluted
for fishing or swimming

• Agriculture is responsible for

• 60 of this pollution in rivers
• 45 of this pollution in lakes

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1998 EPA Section 303(d) ListTop 15 Causes of
Water Quality Impairment
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IN NRCS 590 Soil Test Limits for Phosphorus
Application
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• Phosphorus generally limits biological activity
  in most freshwater ecosystems

Picture taken from University of Manitoba
Experimental Lakes Area Research Project, 2001
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Soil Test P and Soluble P
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Soil Test P Impacts on the Total Mass of
PReleased at Different P Concentrations
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Manure production vs. commercial fertilizer
consumption in the U.S.
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Plan Developers/Consumers

• NRCS Field Office Personnel
• Write CNMPs in the context of CMS
• Technical Service Providers
• Write and implement CNMPs to make money
• Producers
• Use outputs to improve management and meet
  regulatory/agency requirements
• Regulatory Agencies
• Use outputs to confirm compliance with regulations

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Nutrient Management Plan Components

• Inventory of all nutrient resources
• Commercial fertilizers
• Manures
• Planned nutrient applications
• Time, rate and method
• Implementation, operation, and maintenance plan
• i.e. Recordkeeping
• Regular reviews

• Site, field and soil maps
• Identify sensitive areas
• Crop rotation
• Soil test results
• Appropriate soil test methods
• Crop nutrient budget
• Realistic yield goals
• Appropriate fertilizer recommendations

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Nutrient Management Plans
Strategic Tactical

• Reality Programming
• My storage is full, where is the best place to
  apply manure today?
• Needed by producers
• Potentially very useful
• Largely nonavailalbe

• Feasibility Study
• How I will manage my manure/nutrients for the
  next five years?
• Required by NRCS and EPA.
• Details likely wrong before it is approved.

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Critical Software Components for Nutrient
Management

• Strategic Planning
• GIS Field Layout and Mapping
• Nutrient Budgeting and Allocation
• Risk Assessment for N, P and Sediment
• Automated Plan Document Generation
• Tactical Planning Implementation
• Recordkeeping and Annual Reports

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GIS Mapping Software Functions

• Layout Fields
• Calculate Total Acres
• Identify Soils
• Identify Watershed
• Layout Sensitive Areas
• Application Setback Distances
• Calculate Spreadable Acres
• Layout Travel Network
• Calculate Distance from Storage to Field
• Generate Maps
• Farmstead, Soils, Soil Test Levels, Planned
  Applications
• Import/Export Data

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GIS Mapping Software for Nutrient Management

• SNMP (Spatial Nutrient Management Planner)
• University of Missouri
• NRCS and Independent TSPs
• EASi Suite
• MapShots Inc.
• John Deere, Southern States Cooperative
• Summit
• SST
• Helena Chemical, GrowMark

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Nutrient Budgeting and Allocation Software
Functions

• Inventory Farm Data
• Fields, soil tests, crops, storages, animals,
  equipment
• Calculate Nutrient Recommendations
• Based on land grant extension recommendations
• Allocate Planned Commercial Fertilizer and Manure
• Based on state-specific application priorities
• Based on state-specific manure nutrient
  availability
• Track Changes in Manure Inventory
• Manure inputs, transfers, exports and
  applications
• Generate Useful Reports
• Feasibility of planned applications
• Import/Export Data

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Numerical, Technological and Political Complexity
of the Planning Process
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Soil Testing

• Many states require the use of approved soil
  testing laboratories
• Participate in state or national proficiency
  testing programs
• Approved by Extension/NRCS in the state

This only means that the laboratory soil test
results are accurate!!!
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Soil Test Laboratory Myth
Fertilizer recommendations returned with a soil
test report match those required for nutrient
management planning.
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Soil Testing

• Soil test methods are state, and sometimes, soil
  specific
• Know the appropriate soil test method(s) to
  request for your state!!!

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Bassett Loam
Racine Loam
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Soil test P 15 ppm
Olsen Bray P1 Mehlich 3 Mehlich 3 ICP
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Crop Nutrient BudgetingRule Number One

• Account for planned applications of all
  commercial fertilizers first
• Starter fertilizers
• Fall applications of MAP and DAP
• UAN in herbicide tank mixtures

Include the rate, time and method!!!
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Manure Application Plans(developing an
application strategy)

• Producer preferences
• Storage limitations
• Application equipment
• Land availability
• Distance from field
• Regulatory constraints

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Manure Application Rates(determining available
nutrients)

• Potentially available nitrogen includes all
  ammonium N the fraction of the organic N
  assumed to mineralize during the growing season
• Phosphorus and potassium are generally considered
  to be 100 percent available

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Manure Application Rates(determining available
nutrients)

• Actual nitrogen availability can vary
  calculations vary widely from state to state

• Method of application
• Time of application
• Animal type
• Manure storage

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Data Required to Determine State-Specific Plant
Available Manure N After Application
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Estimated First Year Manure N Availability Liquid
Hog Manure (58-39-44-40)
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Manure N Availability Varies With Time and Method
of Application
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Assessing Plan Feasibility(will your plan work?)

• Is the hauling plan reasonable?
• Did manure inventory increase during plan period?
• Export plan
• Land use agreements

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The Big ChallengeSpeeding up the Planning
Process

• Biggest Obstacle
• Determining Optimum Manure Application Rates
• Time Consuming
• Confusing
• Repetitive
• Error Prone

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Aerial photo, soil survey layer
Nutrient Mgmt. Plan Data Development Workflow
Toolkit (ArcView)
State-specific manure application setbacks
Conservation plans field boundaries and FSA IDs
SNMP (ArcView)
State initialization, soils, operation data
Producer field IDs, total and spreadable acres,
soil IDs
RUSLE2
MMP
Assessment data
NMP template (Word)
State Phos. RAT
Tables of data
Operations NMP (Word)
Rev. 3/10/05
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Whats The Challenge of Determining Optimum
Manure Application Rates?

• Rate Determination Depends On
• Phosphorus Index, which in turn depends on
  RUSLE2, but RUSLE2 results can change with rate,
  method and timing of manure application.
• This is a Classic Chicken-Egg Dilemma

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The Chicken-Egg Dilemma

• Planned Rate (e.g. N-Based)

Determine Annual Soil Loss With RUSLE2 (Affected
by Time, Method and Rate of Application)
Rate Too High Or Too Low
Assess Rate and Soil Loss With PI
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IN NRCS 590 Soil Test Limits for Phosphorus
Application
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IN Nutrient and Sediment Transport Risk
Assessment Tool (NASTRAT)

• Soil Test P Level
• Soil Erosion
• Surface Runoff Class
• Nitrate Leaching Index
• Subsurface Drainage Potential
• Flooding Potential
• Distance to Waterbody

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Planner/Producer Goal For Using PIs

• Determine the Optimum Rate of Manure Application
• PIs are Primarily Used as a Postmortem Assessment
  of Planned Applications
• i.e. PIs Were Not Designed for the Intended Use.

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Solving Chicken-Egg Dilemma

• MMP Must Calculate Optimum Manure Application
  Rate(s) On the Fly
• This Implies Dynamic Links Among MMP, RUSLE2 and
  PIs
• Initial efforts to address these issues are
  underway with NRCS/EPA support

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Addressing Long-Term P Issues in Nutrient
Management Planning
Example Scenario

• 200 sow farrow to finish operation
• Manure stored in liquid pits
• Manure generally injected with 2500 gallon tanker
  
• 375 acre land base broken into 16 fields for
  nutrient management
• Corn-soybean rotation with some wheat
• Soil test P values range from 28-215 ppm

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Whole Farm Average Crop Acreage and Nutrient
Requirements
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Nutrient Balance Using Standard Diet Formulation
If additional land is not acquired, approximately
479,000 gallons of manure will have to be
exported (assuming 32 lbs P2O5 per thousand
gallons of manure).
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Improving Situation With Phytase and Reduced K in
Mineral Mix
If additional land is not acquired, approximately
199,000 gallons of manure will have to be
exported (assuming 32 lbs P2O5 per thousand
gallons of manure).
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Further Improvements With HAP Corn and Phytase
If additional land not acquired, approximately
32,000 gallons of manure will have to be exported
(assuming 32 lbs P2O5 per thousand gallons of
manure).
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Factors Influencing Fertilizer Replacement Value
of Manure

• Nutrient requirement of planned crop(s)
• Commercial fertilizer prices and associated
  application costs
• Manure nutrient analysis/availability
• Cost to transport and apply manure
• Need for supplemental fertilizer following manure
  application
• Perceptions of person receiving manure

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The best laid plans of mice and men!!!
MMP Website http//www.agry.purdue.edu/mmp
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MMP Currently Supports 33 States and 1 Canadian
Province
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MMP Currently Supports 15 State P Risk Assessment
Tools