A to Z Feeders

1
A to Z Feeders

• Kelli Bormann, Mark Lane, and
• Jim Skartvedt

2
A to Z Feeders

• Located west of Atlantic, Iowa in Cass County
• Owned by the Alan Zellmer family
• Environmentally friendly producer
• Currently wants to expand feedlot

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Current Practices and Strategies

• A to Z Feeders has teamed up with Yama Beef, Inc.
• Produce high marbling Waygu cattle
• Angus cows x Waygu bulls
• Waygu meat is marketed to niche markets for high
  premiums because of its taste and high quality

4
Current Practices and Strategies

• Currently A to Z feeders has 1700 head capacity
• No manure management plan
• Test soil in every field they apply manure
• Apply manure on crop ground based on a get rid
  of it strategy (not N or P basis)
• Scrape and clean yards twice a year
• Test every 10th load of manure which leaves the
  feedlot

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Current Practices and Strategies

• Manure utilization
• 600 acres corn
• 400 acres soybeans
• Corn/soybean rotation
• 160 acres brome hay
• Low Phosphorus Acres
• 300 low soil P acres recently purchased
• Average Slope 7

6
Current Soil Situation

• Soil test performed on every field utilized for
  crop growth and manure application
• Iowa State University Soil Testing Lab
• Total Farm average 154 ppm P
• Bray-1 analysis
• Every field tested over 100 ppm
• 31 ppm P and over are classified as very high
  soil P concentration (Van Horn et al., 1996)

7
Current Manure Situation

• Manure samples collected from every 10th load
  leaving the feedlot
• Manure tested from individual pens within the
  feedlot

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Diet and Feeding

• Diet plays a large role in the amount of P
  excreted
• Depends on amount of P offered and digestibility
  of the diet
• Current Diet
• 13 lbs corn, 9 lbs hay, 14 lbs corn silage, 14
  lbs wheat SBM
• Proposed Diet
• Supplement more hay and corn for less corn silage
• Reduced corn silage which is high in P will
  reduce the acres needed to spread manure

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Diet and Feeding
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Phosphorus and the EnvironmentWhy do we care?

• Agriculture plays a very large role in the total
  usage of Phosphates
• Phosphorus is a nutrient which can be lost in
  runoff from farm fields or leach through the soil
  profile (Andraski et al., 2003)

National History Museum, 2002
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Phosphorus and the Environment

• Phosphorus can dissolve in water, attach to
  manure particles which will move with runoff and
  leave the field (Van Horn et al., 2003)
• Typically P only leaves the soil with sediment,
  however, is soil has an overabundance of P then P
  can leach through the soil profile (Maguire and
  Sims, 2002)

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Phosphorus and the Environment

• Phosphorus saturation of the soil can lead to
  increased P in surrounding waterways
• Increased P can cause eutrophication (Klatt et
  al., 2002)
• Typically P is limiting for algae growth,
  however, if increasing amounts of P reaches
  waterways with sediment runoff, then algae growth
  increase

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Phosphorus and the Environment

• Eutrophication
• Increased aquatic plant growth
• Oxygen depletion (may lead to fish kills)
• pH variability
• Plant species quality
• Food chain effects

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Phosphorus and the Environment

• 40 of Iowas waterways are on the impaired list
  because of an overabundance of nutrients entering
  the waterway (IDNR, 2002)
• Concern over non point source P losses
  (agricultural losses) has increased
• Phosphorus in runoff needs to be limited in order
  to prevent further deterioration of Iowas
  waterways

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Phosphorus Indices

• Assessment tool to rank a sites vulnerability to
  P loss
• Identify and prioritize P management options
• Areas near waterways or with greater slope would
  be considered high risk
• May cause producers to have to look to outside
  outlets for manure

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Fertilization based on Crop Needs

• In order to prevent over fertilization of crop
  fields and pastures, fertilizer application must
  match crop nutrient uptake
• In Iowa a typical corn field requires 1.2 lbs of
  N and 26.4 lbs of P per bushel (Mid West Plan
  Service, 1993)
• In the past fertilization has taken place based
  on the N needs rather than the P needs of a crop,
  leading to a gross over-application of P
• Manure needs to be spread matching the most
  limiting nutrient

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Regulations

• EPA has designed regulations for CAFOs or
  Confined Animal Feeding Operations
• Implement a nutrient management plan
• Submit annual report to permitting authority
• Keep permit current until the operation is
  completely closed and all manure is removed
• Keep records of nutrient management practices for
  at least 5 years

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Nutrient Management Plans

• Benefits of Utilizing a Nutrient Management Plan
• Assure adequate manure storage capacity
• Proper handling of dead animals and chemicals
• Divert clean water from production areas
• Keep animals out of surface waters
• Use site specific conservation practices
• Develop ways to test manure and soil
• Assure appropriate use of nutrients when
  spreading manure
• Keep records of nutrient management practices

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Production Areas

• Production areas should be designed to contain
  all manure plus the runoff from a 25 year 24 hour
  storm event
• Install depth markers in liquid manure storage
  structures
• Inspect production areas weekly and all water
  lines daily
• Properly handle dead animals

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Land Application of Manure

• Apply manure at rates meeting the permitted
  authorities standards
• Analyze manure for nutrients at least once a year
• Analyze soil from land application fields for P
  every 5 years
• Avoid over-application of manure to land within
  100 feet of surface water

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Alternative Uses for Manure

• If the total manure and nutrients produced on
  farm exceed the amount needed by crop ground, the
  off farm outlets are needed for the excess
  nutrients
• Storage, collecting and hauling costs associated
  with manure make off farm outlets less appealing

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Alternative Uses for Manure

• Composting
• Aerobic decomposition of manure and other organic
  material at high temperatures
• Waste and organic matter are allowed to decay in
  a pile with some agitation
• Resulting product is odorless, low moisture, fine
  textured and can be used in bulk as fertilizer or
  bagged and sold for uses in nurseries and garden
  uses

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Alternative Uses for Manure

• Pelletizing
• Manure is compacted at high temperatures and
  pressures and the compressed in a die to form a
  pellet
• Also known as extrusion, converts fresh manure to
  a dry, pathogen free, easy to handle, finished
  product that can be used as fertilizer, soil
  amendment, feed additives, or energy fuel

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Alternative Uses for Manure

• Bedding/Litter
• Building Material
• Flowerpot Ornaments
• Mushroom Cultivation
• Nursery Pots
• Soil Reclamation

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Current Facility Setup 1,700 head
Clean water diversion
Runoff flow
Working Loading Facilities
160 160 80 80
Commodities Building (cement)
Runoff flow

• 100 100 100 100 160
• Head of cattle per pen

160 160 160
Composting Piles (on dirt)
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Proposed Expansion

• Feedlot wants to be permitted to 3,000 head
• Needs manure management plan
• Lacks land available for manure application (? P)

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Working Loading Facilities
Clean water diversion
Converted to Holding Pens
Commodities Building
160 160 160 160

• 100 100 100 100 160
• Head of cattle per pen

590 ft
160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160
Settling basin
28 ft
Gated Pipe
725 ft
95 Acres of brome grass filter strip
28 ft
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Grass Filter Strip Recommendation

• More eye appealing land
• Passive Treatment System
• Controls odor better than the lagoon option
• Dual purpose crop
• Filtration of contaminants
• Production of grass hay

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Recommendations for Future

• Utilization of manure only at the new, low P 300
  acre farm
• Continued harvesting of silage at high P farms
• Addition of manure management plan with expansion
  of feedlot
• Applying manure on a plant need only basis
• Research composting feasibility with profitability

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Recommendations for Future

• Look at alternative methods for manure removal or
  marketing
• Discuss marketing compost to golf courses in the
  Omaha area
• Research the cost effectiveness of selling bagged
  composts products