Nutrient Management on Maine Dairy Farms

Nutrient Management on Maine Dairy Farms

Summary

Overview
This project identified farmers’ questions on nutrient management and use, then developed on-farm projects that answer those questions. Farmers played key roles in collaborative research and educational activities. The project stimulated considerable interest in on-farm research, the development and use of ‘local’ (site-specific) information, farmer involvement in education, and many facets of nutrient management.

Key Results
Changes in nutrient management practices have occurred on 100 Maine farms, including the use of testing strategies, changes in distribution of manure and other nutrient sources, use of manure on alternative crops, movement of manure to other farms. Due to the project, soil testing was done on nearly 9,000 acres (mostly corn fields), Presidedress Soil N Test (PSNT) on 5,000 acres, manure analysis on 50 farms. The test results, in turn, allowed farmers to make changes and improvements For example, one farmer increased forage productivity by 25 percent by identifying nutrient deficiencies. Another saved saving $6,500 in fertilizer costs by using manure to fertilize potatoes.

Additionally, the project spurred additional interest and investment in nutrient management projects by other organizations, including the Maine Potato Board ($14,000) Potash and Phosphate Institute ($3,000) and the USDA-ARS ($38,000).

Objectives
1.Farmers will identify emerging information and technology needs for nutrient management on dairy farms, and will develop site-specific criteria for making nutrient decisions.
2.On-farm evaluation of available nutrient management technologies will be conducted on at least 20 sites in Maine for two years by a team of university researchers and cooperating farmers, to create a local database on crop yield and quality response. An economic evaluation of alternative nutrient management strategies will be conducted for all sites based on this dataset.
3.Two alternative nutrient management strategies, (1) manure application to seeding and established alfalfa, and (2) grass response to different forms of manure, will be evaluated in applied research projects. Results will be disseminated to all Maine dairy farmers.
4.A comprehensive management framework for record-keeping and decision-making will be developed to aid farmers in making decisions regarding nutrient use.

Activities and Accomplishments.
Most of the activities within this project focused on four nutrient management issues including: using testing technology to make management decisions; crop removal of nutrients and the fate of excess nutrients; manure use on forage crops; and alternative uses for dairy manure. The broader issues of economic value of manure and other nutrient sources, integration of crop and livestock systems and participatory research and education have also been central to the project.

Project accomplishments include: development and delivery of approximately 55 educational workshops, attended by 1700 farmers and farm advisors: eight field days and farm tours, with nearly 400 farmers participating; management of twenty-six on-farm research trials and eight experiment station research trials; and contributions to nine regional or in-service training workshops.

In addition, research results from this project have been used in regional Crop Advisor training efforts, and numerous educational activities and publications. Collaborative efforts stimulated by (and with) this project have been recognized regionally.
In addition, research results from this project have been used in regional Crop Advisor training efforts, and numerous educational activities and publications. Collaborative efforts stimulated by (and with) this project have been recognized regionally.

Farmer Adoption and Direct Impact
The impacts of this project are outlined below, in three categories: educational impacts, changes in farming practices, and continued support for nutrient management.

Research : Briefly, 25 on-farm research trials/demonstrations were conducted, with the information provided to both host farms and widely disseminated via educational programs, professional development activities. In addition, three graduate student research projects were supported directly or indirectly by this SARE project, with results disseminated in extension activities, professional development activities, and scientific meetings. This project also supported the initial stages of: on-going research evaluating the release of N and P from different types of livestock manure, and the effect of manure application rate and initial soil test P level on soil P pools; collaborative field research evaluating the use of manure as a fertility source in potato production systems.

Educational Impacts: This project made nearly 1700 individual contacts in the course of conducting educational programs/workshops/discussion groups and farm tours. The participation in specific topic areas was noted in the previous section. To summarize, 650 farmers/advisors attended programs dealing with nutrient testing and decision-making; many of those attending were able to successfully interpret soil or manure analysis, and to use specific tests to identify and solve nutrient problems on their farms. Nearly 350 farmers/advisers attended activities focuses on excess nutrients and their fate on farms and in the environment. Participants helped develop on-farm research strategies addressing crop nutrient removal and yield, identified potential changes in management to reduce or alleviate nutrient loading, and contributed to the development of Best Management Practices for poultry manure and effective nutrient management legislation in Maine. Seven hundred farmer contacts were made addressing alternative uses for manure and integration of crop and livestock operations or farms. Participants clearly identified barriers to increased integration, highlighted (and learned from) successfully integrated farms, and developed new working relationships between farms.

Changes in Farming Practices: Many farms implemented testing strategies, and subsequently used this information to make nutrient use decisions or to change nutrient management practices on their farms. In general terms, this includes: soil testing on nearly 9,000 acres (mostly corn fields), Presidedress Soil N Test (PSNT) on 5,000 acres, manure analysis on 50 farms, changes in nutrient management practices on nearly 100 farms. Some examples from individual farms follow:
· Increased forage productivity by 25 percent over 400 acres, by identifying specific nutrient deficiencies and developing field-specific fertilizer/manure applications
· Manure used to fertilize 50 acres of potatoes, saving $6,500 in fertilizer cost
· Manure used to fertilize 100 acres on adjoining potato farm, saving $10,000 while reducing nutrient load on dairy farm
· Manure sufficient to fertilize 400 acres moved from dairy farm to adjoining farms, saving nearly $50,000 in fertilizer costs
· Discontinued starter fertilizer application on 300 acres ($6,000) due to lack of probable response to fertilizer
· Reallocation of manure from corn fields with high nutrient levels to forage seedings with low nutrient levels. Also used manure analysis to distinguish nutrient value of fresh versus field stacked manure resources.
· Americorp volunteers, working with dairy and beef producers in 1995 and 1996 developed or expanded nutrient management plans on more than 50 farms.
· Extension, Maine Departments of Agriculture and Environmental Protection modified Best Management Practices on hayfields rented from Decoster Egg Farm, based on field specific information, producer yield goals, and environmental objectives.
· Producers involved in Androscoggin County Integrated Crop Management (ICM) Project reduced nutrient loading (on a per field basis) by 30-40 percent for N and P, without reductions in crop yield or quality.
· Number of dairy farms and potato farms developing working relationships to manage nutrient (manure) and crops (feed) increased to more than twenty farms, totaling more than 10,000 acres. This includes purchase of dairy farm by adjoining potato farm, with use of historically manured field for potato production (instead of corn).

Continued Support for Nutrient Management: The following are examples of specific grants and projects that have resulted directly from this SARE project. Additional support has been garnered due to the partnerships established during this SARE project. Maine Potato Board ($14,000, 2 yr) to evaluate manure fertilization in potato systems and potato N testing strategies; Potash and Phosphate Institute ($3,000/yr, 3 yr) to continue field evaluation of liquid manure versus fertilizer on grasslands; USDA-ARS ($38,000) for sabbatical leave of PI (Griffin), focusing on prediction of N and P release from different livestock manures.

Economic Analysis
Many of the farms participating in this project are comparing alternative production practices to current or status quo practices. Where possible, partial budget comparisons are made for these scenarios (eg. N sidedress rates), and provided to farmers. In addition, we have continued to formally develop the linkage between ‘potential economic value’ and management decisions., as discussed above. For example, manure certainly has potential value if considered solely as a nutrient source. The ‘actual economic value’ depends on many management decisions, from testing and calibration, through field application and management, on to additional nutrient applications and site selection. Although these have been dealt with theoretically in the past, the activities listed above on ‘economic value of manure’ has provided concrete examples of these principles using relevant information from on-farm research trials.

Potential Contributions and Practical Applications
Many of the production options evaluated in this project do not address productivity directly. Nutrients rarely limit crop productivity on dairy farms, except possible on marginal hayfields (which is one aspect addressed here). Rather, the focus of this project is on efficiency of production, relative to nutrients, and maximizing the economic value of each nutrient input regardless of source. In order to maximize value, environmental loss and environmental loading must also be held to a minimum.
Reductions in N fertilizer inputs can be substantial simply through the use of the PSNT test. As illustrated in several on farm trials, manure analysis ($20.00), coupled with spreader calibration and PSNT ($7.00) can easily reduce N fertilizer application by 50-75 lb/a ($17.00-25.00/a), or up to $2500 for a moderate sized dairy farm. These same tools can reduce, coupled with a standard soil test ($10.00) can reduce or eliminate starter P and K applications ($20.00-30.00/acre). All of these have the additional benefit of reducing environmental nutrient loads by the amounts noted.
The use of manure on alternative crops (on the same or different farms) can carry even more substantial economic and environmental benefits. Research conducted here showed that grass haylage production using liquid dairy manure was essentially equal to that from blended NPK fertilizer. Since the farmer already incurs the cost of spreading (regardless of where it is spread), this cannot be called an additional cost for forage production. In addition, the fertilizer input can be reduced or eliminated on those acres receiving manure, potentially worth $60.00-100.00/acre, or up to $10,000 for 100 acres of grassland. Environmentally, if this manure is spread on grassland rather than corn fields with historically high manure application, overall environmental loads of N and P are reduced substantially. The scenario associated with moving this manure to adjoining farms, perhaps to grow rotation crops in potato systems, carries economic benefits of $50-125/acre.
The other important contribution that this project has had is to stimulate interest in on-farm research and in the integration of farms of different types. Many of the farmers involved have identified gaps in local information, that they need to make informed decision on nutrient use. They are now beginning to see that on-farm projects are the fastest way to obtain reliable local information. They have also discussed how farmers can be more involved in the educational process in general. The activities of this project, held over the four years, have made a very strong case for on-farm research projects, as these local projects have more credibility and applicability. The leadership of the Maine Sustainable Agriculture Society (MESAS), several of whom were involved in this project, have made the continued use of on-farm research a priority, as have University of Maine Cooperative Extension faculty

Areas needing additional study
The environmental fate of lost nutrients continues to be an area of uncertainty, especially the role of high/excessive soil nutrients in increasing environmental loss. Likewise, the watershed level impacts of improved nutrient management has not been adequately demonstrated in most instances. The differences between different types of livestock manure, and between manure and chemical fertilizer, in contributing to plant available nutrient pools also requires better analytical tools.

Reported June, 1999