Nutrient Management Plans as Tools to Achieve Sustainable Animal Waste Utilization

Nutrient Management Plans as Tools to Achieve Sustainable Animal Waste Utilization

Summary

This project develops training materials and provides training for agriculture professionals and advisors who guide farmers in developing nutrient management plans. These nutrient management plans include tools for effective animal waste handling and utilization systems. In Kentucky, new management tools, practices, and corrective measures relating to managing animal waste are evolving at a record pace. This is challenging farmers to use new technologies to design and implement effective nutrient management plans. Stringent state and federal regulations and increasing public concerns point to the need for trained advisors who can educate producers about nutrient management and animal waste utilization.

Objectives/Performance Targets

• To provide training and new technology developments to Cooperative Extension Service (CES) County Agents, Kentucky State University (KSU) Small Farm Assistants, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) District Conservationists, private consultants and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in nutrient management planning and animal waste management.

  This training will provide farmers with the most current technical and integrative informational tools to assist them in developing nutrient management plans and to complying with recent guideline requirements of the Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations regarding the Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP).

  To bring agriculture trainers, advisors, and leaders together to learn about the issue of nutrient management and its relationship to sustainable agriculture.

  The target participants will be farmers, NRCS District Conservationists and local conservation district employees that deal with water quality issues, NGOs, County Extension Agents, Small Farm Assistants, and private consultants (certified crop advisors, etc.). They will be identified through representative members on a training development committee. Letters, memorandums, and personal contacts will promote and solicit participation, including production agriculture farmers.

  Three, two-day workshop sessions will be held at locations throughout Kentucky. An on-farm visit will be included at each training location.

  The training curriculum will be presented in classrooms and on working farm operations.

  Seminars will impart theoretical and practical principles with the use of computer software to assess nutrient management needs. Databases and interpretive software relative to topographic locations, thematic map of points of interest (POI), soil types, slopes, proximity to streams, sinkholes and other limiting factors will allow for accurate acceptable application rates and protocols for development of the CNMP. Agency participants will work with farmers in an interagency collaborative setting to develop nutrient management plans.

  On-farm visits will observe successfully implemented nutrient management plans on livestock operations. This training will include some elements of stream and watershed monitoring assessment using the Kentucky Agriculture Watershed Awareness Program.

  This project will build upon knowledge gained from a previous SARE funded project in Kentucky, project #A597-26, that provided farm leaders with sustainable agriculture water quality leadership training at the grassroots level. This new project will prepare professionals and farm leaders to work together in an interagency environment to address nutrient management and related education and recommendation guidelines.

  Participants will complete a pre-training evaluation assessment to determine the level of knowledge, skills, and attitudes about animal waste utilization and nutrient management planning. Participants will complete a post-training assessment to determine what they learned from the training sessions.

  A follow-up survey of participants will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of project manuals and videotapes used as educational materials.

  The percentage and number of participants from different organizations that completed training will also be used as an indicator of success.

Accomplishments/Milestones

This project officially began October 1, 2000. Because of the statewide multi-agency involvement required to accomplish the project objectives, a nutrient management focus group consisting of representatives of key partner agencies and organizations was formed. This focus group has been instrumental in planning, organizing, and implementing the project training initiatives. Additional information about the Kentucky Nutrient Management Focus Group can be found at http://www.ca.uky.edu/enri/focsgrps/nmfg.htm.

Training was originally planned to be delivered during three, two-day training sessions. Subsequent changes to the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Plan and to the NRCS nutrient management standard (code 590) directly affected animal waste utilization and nutrient management planning guidelines and requirements for producers in Kentucky. Due to these changes, an increased number of participants and training requirements were anticipated, and the training program was greatly expanded. The core of the nutrient management training curriculum now consists of the following three parts:

Part 1. The Science of Nutrient Management
Part 2. Policies and Regulations related to Nutrient Management in Kentucky
Part 3. Field Practicum and Planning Exercise

The initial Part I (science) training session was conducted on November 9, 2000 at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center in Princeton, Kentucky. Training topics included a thorough discussion of phosphorus sources and soil reaction, soil test phosphorus, and phosphorus and water quality. In addition, the training provided an overview of the draft Kentucky NRCS Nutrient Management Technical Standard 590. A demonstration of software was held to help agricultural professionals and advisors assist Kentucky producers meet the Agriculture Water Quality Plan requirements of the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Act. This Part 1 (science) training was repeated at three additional locations, Elizabethtown, Mount Sterling, and Somerset, Kentucky in November 2000. The number of participants completing Part I training was 229. To accommodate additional future participants, this Part I material was recently incorporated into an on-line training and testing site and can be accessed at http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/AgPrograms/nmot/.

A Nutrient Management Planning Handbook was developed and distributed to workshop participants as a training tool and reference guide. This comprenhsive three-ring binder handbook can continually be updated to incorporate new information and training materials.

The Part II training sessions address nutrient management policies and planning guidelines. These sessions followed completion of the revised NRCS Nutrient Management Technical Standard 590, which now serves as the standard for nutrient management planning for farmers in Kentucky. Part II also incorporates training related to use of nutrient management planning software developed by the University of Kentucky. During this year, six Part II training sessions have been conducted at Slade, Princeton, Bardstown, Hartford, Lexington, and Somerset, Kentucky during June 2001 and September 2001. The number of participants completing Part II training to date is 286. This training included two nutrient management-planning exercises.

The Part III training sessions included a field exercise focusing on the Kentucky Phosphorus Index (for environmental phosphorus risk assessment). A poultry farm nutrient management planning exercise was also included. The Part III training sessions were conducted at two field locations at Lexington and Princeton, Kentucky in September 2001. The number of participants for the Part III training to date is 157.

The total number of individuals who have participated in the training sessions is 385. This includes participants from the following agencies and organizations:

Natural Resource Conservation Service (178)
Cooperative Extension Service (99)
Kentucky Certified Crop Advisors (64)
Kentucky Division of Conservation and Conservation Districts (33)
Kentucky Division of Water (3)
Kentucky State University (3)
Environmental Industry Representatives (3)
Kentucky Department of Agriculture (1)
Northern Kentucky University (1)

The participating professionals represent a large part of the technical support base available to Kentucky producers and the training program continues. Additional Part II and Part III training sessions are scheduled for December 2001, February 2002 and March 2002 (see http://www.ca.uky.edu/enri/nutmgt.htm). Also, six informational sessions are scheduled in January 2002 and February 2002 to provide updated information and educational tools for Cooperative Extension Service County Agents (120 participants expected). A one-day nutrient management information and training program will be conducted at the Kentucky State University Demonstration Farm for limited resource farmers (75 participants expected).

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

This SARE PDP program has provided timely support and assistance to address challenging nutrient management and animal waste issues in Kentucky. Recent revisions to the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Plan require agriculture or silviculture producers (of tracts 10 acres or greater) who apply nutrients to their crops develop and implement a nutrient management plan consistent with the NRCS Nutrient Management Standard practice code 590. The resulting information and training needs were further complicated by significant subsequent revisions to the NRCS Nutrient Management Standard.

This SARE PDP program provides a forum for the strengthening of partnerships among the various agencies involved with nutrient management in Kentucky. A key contribution of this program has been to ensure the nutrient management information and assistance that producers receive is both accurate and consistent. Participation in the development program has already exceeded the originally envisioned program and additional meetings are scheduled.

This SARE PDP program has also supported or served as a catalyst for other nutrient management related initiatives within the state. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is funding the production of a video and funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is being used for the development and distribution of a color publication. These additional tools promote awareness and understanding of the importance and benefits of nutrient management planning. These materials are being incorporated into the PDP program, as they are developed to assist resource professionals and advisors with information outreach activities.

Collaborators: