Soil, Manure, and Water Sampling and Analysis

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Soil, Manure, and Water Sampling and Analysis

• Leticia S. Sonon
• Ag and Env Services Laboratories
• March 31, 2009

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Agenda

• Manure testing
• Sample collection
• Tests to request
• Reports
• Soil testing
• Sample collection
• Tests to request
• Reports
• Groundwater
• monitoring

Lagoon sample
Soil sampler
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Why Test Soil and Manure?

• Know the soil fertility status
• Know the fertilizer value of the manure
• These are the basics for Comprehensive Nutrient
  Management Planning (CNMP) and Waste Utilization.

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Manure Testing

• When?
• Near to the time of application as possible
• gt1000 animal units (AU) semi-annual
• gt3000 AU - quarterly for swine operations
• How?
• Depends on the type of manure and manure handling
  system
• Procedures differ for lagoon effluent, liquid
  slurry, lagoon sludge, and solid manure.

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Lagoon EffluentSemiannually for operations over
1000 auQuarterly for swine operations over 3000
au

• Collect what you intend to pump for crop
  irrigation no mixing of the lagoon.
• Where possible, collect effluent from the
  spray-system at the point of application.
• Grab eight 1-pint samples throughout a
  spray-irrigation event and composite into a
  plastic bucket.
• Mix bucket contents and fill a 1-pint bottle for
  lab analysis.

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Lagoon Effluent (continued)

• When samples cannot be taken from the
  spray-system, collect 8 grab samples at least 6
  feet from the lagoon bank and at a depth of about
  1 foot or whatever would represent the material
  pumped for irrigation.
• Avoid floating debris.
• Never use galvanized buckets.
• Tightly cap the manure sample bottles and check
  for leaks.
• Rinse or wipe off any manure from the outside of
  the container.

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Alternative Lagoon Effluent Sampler
plastic tubing
float
steel pipe
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thrown into lagoon
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sample collection using a suction pump
suction pump
suction reservoir
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Liquid Slurry
Composite Sampling Device

• If you agitate your storage pond or lagoon,
  samples can be collected with the equipment and
  procedure used for lagoon effluent.
• If you dont agitate, use the composite sampling
  device illustrated here.

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Lagoon Sludge (two methods) Method One
Method Two

• You will need a boat or floating dock.
• Insert a pipe to the bottom of the lagoon.
• Seal the surface end and extract the pipe from
  the lagoon.
• Deposit the sludge portion into a bucket.
• Composite 12-20 sub-samples from various
  locations around the lagoon.

• Pump lagoon down to the sludge layer.
• Agitate and collect a slurry-type sample using
  the liquid sampler described for sampling lagoon
  effluent or slurry.

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Handling Liquid Manure Samples

• Container
• Clean 1-pint plastic wide-mouth bottle
• NO GLASS
• Filling
• Leave 1-inch headspace for gas expansion and to
  facilitate mixing at the laboratory.
• Storage
• Preferably ship or deliver samples immediately
  after sampling.
• However, refrigerate or freeze samples that
  cannot be immediately shipped or delivered to the
  laboratory.

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Solid ManureStockpiled, Surface-scraped, or
Composted

• Composite at least 6 or more cores that represent
  the average moisture content.
• Core samples to a depth of at least 18 inches.
• Sub-sample a 1-quart portion into a plastic-bag
  for the lab. Dont overfill.
• Refrigerate if samples are stored for more than 2
  days.

Solid Manure Sampling Device
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Sampling In-house Litter

• Previous sampling recommendation

Collect at least 10 to 12 one pint samples
throughout the house, combine and mix them in a
plastic bucket, and place one quart into a
plastic bag for submission to the laboratory.
15
Research on N content shows that
Center of the house
Around the feeders
Around the drinkers

Average 3.31 4.41
3.49
Minimum 2.83 4.15
2.35
Maximum 3.68 4.75
4.50

• Around feeders, N was 25 higher than from
  center of the house and 21 higher than from
  around drinkers (30 samples)
• N varied as much as 48 around drinkers

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Therefore

• It is not recommended to sample litter while
  still being used as a bedding layer in the
  poultry house.
• Wait until clean out to sample after mixing the
  litter by scraping it into a pile. Then, follow
  the procedure given below for sampling litter
  from piles, stockpiles, or spreader trucks.
• If sampling of litter is necessary in the house
  prior to clean out, use the sampling procedures
  as originally provided.

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Solid Manure Tests to Request
Essential
Other Tests

• Total nitrogen (N)
• Phosphorus (P)
• Potassium (K)

• Calcium (Ca)
• Magnesium (Mg)
• Sodium (Na)

• Sulfur (S)
• Aluminum (Al)
• Iron (Fe)
• Boron (B)
• Copper (Cu)
• Manganese (Mn)
• Zinc (Zn)

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for Nutrient Management and Reg.
ComplianceNon-swine and swine except new and
expanding swine operations over 3000 AU
Liquid Manure Test (Lagoon Effluent)

• Nutrients listed for solid manure
• In Addition
• Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN)
• Nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N)
• Ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N)- not
• required on your permit but good for
• predicting available nitrogen

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Liquid Manure Test (Lagoon Effluent)for new and
expanding swine operations over 3000 AU
Quarterly Monitoring

• 5-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
• Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
• Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)
• Ammonia-Nitrogen (NH4-N)
• Nitrate-Nitrogen (NO3-N)
• pH

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Nitrogen Analysis

• Total Nitrogen by Combustion for Solids
• All forms of Nitrogen
• Organic-N
• Ammonium-N
• Nitrate Nitrite-N
• Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen for Liquids
• Only Organic-N Ammonia-N
• Total-N is TKN NO3

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Lagoon sample
Litter sample
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Solid Manure Report

• Units provided on UGA reports are
• Percent
• Pounds per ton
• Phosphorus and potassium are reported as
• P2O5 (P2O5 divided by 2.29 P)
• K2O (K2O divided by 1.20 K)
• All concentrations are reported on an as
  received basis and not on a dry matter basis.

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Solid Manure Report
Litter Broiler
lbs/ton
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Liquid Manure Report

• Units provided on UGA reports are
• Parts per million (ppm)
• Pounds per 1000 gallons
• Pounds per acre inch
• Phosphorus and potassium reported as
• P2O5 (P2O5 divided by 2.29 P)
• K2O (K2O divided by 1.20 K)

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Liquid Manure Report
Lagoon - Dairy
ppm lbs/1000 gal lbs/acre-inch
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Soil Testing

• When?
• Annually
• Fall is a good time, but samples can be taken
  during any season.
• For year to year comparisons it is best to sample
  at approximately the same time each year.

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Where to Soil Sample

• Divide large fields according to obviously
  different
• soil types
• management
• drainage
• crop productivity
• slope
• erosion.
• Collect separate samples from these smaller
  areas.
• Composite 10 to 20 soil cores while traveling in
  a zigzag pattern.

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How to Collect Soil

• Sample depth
• plowed fields
• 6 inches
• or plow depth
• no-till or pastures
• 4 inches
• Composite 10 to 20 cores in a plastic bucket and
  mix well.
• Fill a 1-pint soil test bag that has been clearly
  labeled with the field identification and the
  area within that field that this sample
  represents.

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Basic Soil Test

• Phosphorus (P)
• Potassium (K)
• Calcium (Ca)
• Magnesium (Mg)
• Zinc (Zn)
• pH
• Lime requirement

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Soil Nitrogen

• Tests for residual soil nitrogen are usually not
  able to reliably predict available soil nitrogen
  and crop response.
• Therefore, recommended nitrogen amendments are
  based on long-term research conducted to
  determine the nitrogen rates that produce the
  optimum yield for specific crops and forages.

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Soil Extractants

• Mehlich I (P, K, cations, micronutrients)
• Georgia and other Southeastern States
• Mehlich III (P, K, cations, micronutrients)
• many other labs
• Bray-1 (P only)
• older extractant may still be used by some labs
• Olsens (P only)
• used by Western States on calcarious soils

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Soil Test Reports(Not a P Index)

• Soil test results are concentrations of nutrients
  that are extracted from your soil using
  extractants designed to measure various forms of
  each nutrient.
• These concentrations are know as Soil Test
  Indices.
• These Soil Test Indices are correlated to crop
  or forage yield and then calibrated using
  fertilizer trials so that they can be converted
  into a pounds per acre fertilizer recommendation.

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Soil Fertility Recommendations

• Nitrogen is based on forage or crop species and
  management.
• P and K are based on Soil Test Indices.
• Recommended N, P, and K may be supplied from
  either
• Commercial fertilizer
• Animal manure
• Lagoon effluent
• Green manure crops
• Or a combination of sources.

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Test Questions?
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Questions

• Why is manure tested for developing a CNMP?
• When should manures be sampled for lab analysis?
• How should manure be sampled?
• How do you calculate the rate of manure to apply?
• Why should soil be tested when developing a CNMP?

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Questions

• How should soil samples be taken in the field?
• Which nutrients are measured in the routine soil
  test?
• Which nutrients are of primary environmental
  concern and why?

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Monitoring Well Testing
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Who must do groundwater Monitoring?

• Animal feeding operations over 1000 animal units

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Agenda

• Well location
• Well construction
• Monitoring requirements
• Sampling and analysis
• Guidance documents

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Locating Wells

• Up-gradient wells
• Up-gradient monitoring is not required in the
  swine or non-swine rules
• But, a minimum of three wells are needed to
  determine the gradient of the groundwater
• In many cases the groundwater gradient will
  follow the slope of the land surface, but not
  always

• Down-gradient wells
• At least 25 feet from the outer down-gradient
  edge (toe) of the lagoon or manure storage
  structure
• Should not be installed into fill material
• Into the shallowest saturated zone that is
• the first saturated water bearing unit
• saturated year-round

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Stay Away From

• Septic tanks 50 ft
• Leach Fields 100 ft
• Dead animal burial pits 150 ft
• Animal or fowl enclosure 100 ft
• Pesticide storage, mixing, or loading 100 ft
• Fertilizer storage 100 ft
• Petroleum storage 100 ft

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Using Existing Wells

• Must be in the water bearing unit influenced by
  the lagoon or spray field
• If used for a down-gradient well it must be
  immediately down-gradient of the water bearing
  unit influenced by the lagoon or spray field.
• Must be approved by the Georgia EPD

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Well Construction

• Details are in EPDs Manual for Groundwater
  Monitoring.
• Must be installed by a licensed well driller that
  is supervised by a licensed geologist or
  professional engineer
• Following installation you should have
• well log
• land surface contour map

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Monitoring Requirements(Except new and expanding
swine operations over 3000AU)
Parameter Frequency Tolerance Holding Times
Nitrate-N (mg-N/L) Twice/Year 10 14 days
Total Kjeldahl-N (mg TKN/L) Twice/Year - 28 days
Depth to Groundwater (not required) Twice/Year - On-site
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New and expanding swine operations over 3000 AU
Parameter Frequency Tolerance Holding Time
Specific Conductance Quarterly - On-site
Nitrate-N Quarterly 10 mg/L 28 days
pH Quarterly 1 pH unit change On-site
Depth to Groundwater Quarterly - On-site
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Written Sampling Plan

• Procedures for sample collection
• Sample preparation and collection
• Analytical procedures
• Chain-of-custody

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Sampling Procedure

• Measure water depth.
• Purge well
• bail dry
• or bail three well volumes.

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Sampling Procedure (continued)

• Allow well to recover.
• Collect sample for
• TKN
• nitrate-N.

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Guidance Documents

• Manual for Groundwater Monitoring.
• Monitoring Well Construction for Hazardous-Waste
  Sites in Georgia
• Rules and Regulations for Water Quality Control
• The Water Well Standards Act of 1991

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Locating These Documents

• These documents can be found at the Georgia
  Department of Natural Resources.
• Contact Thomas E. Hopkins, 4220 International
  Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30354.
• Phone [phone] or [phone]
• Email Tom_Hopkins_at_dnr.mail.state.ga.us

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Test Questions?
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Questions

• What monitoring parameters are required by the
  Animal Feeding Operations Permit on lagoon
  effluent and groundwater?
• How frequently must wells be sampled?
• What well monitoring parameter needs to be
  determined on-site?

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Questions

• Where is the proper location for the monitoring
  well?
• Who is responsible for constructing the
  monitoring wells?
• How many wells are required to determine the
  groundwater gradient?