Nutrient Management Plans as Tools to Achieve Sustainable Animal Waste Utilization

Nutrient Management Plans as Tools to Achieve Sustainable Animal Waste Utilization

Summary

The focus of this project was to provide for classroom training and practical field exercises for agriculture professionals and advisors who guide farmers in developing nutrient management plans. Nutrient management training materials have been developed to provide tools for preparing nutrient management plans that provide for effective and economic 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. EPA CAFO rules, NRCS nutrient management standards, and increasing public concerns point to the need for trained educators and technical advisors who can educate producers about correct nutrient management and animal waste utilization.

Objectives/Performance Targets

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

Farmers were provided with 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) and the USDA/NRCS 590 Nutrient Management Standards.

Provide a forum for interaction among agriculture trainers, advisors, and leaders to study and discuss issues relating to nutrient management and its relationship to sustainable agriculture.

The target audience was farmers, NRCS District Conservationists and local conservation district employees who work daily with water quality and nutrient management issues. NGOs, County Extension Agents, Small Farm Assistants, and private consultants (certified crop advisors, etc.) were trained further as educators and technical consultants. Participants were identified and enrolled through representative members on a training development committee. Letters, memorandums, and personal contacts promoted and solicited participation.
Three, two-day workshop sessions were planned to be held at strategic geographic locations throughout Kentucky. On-farm site visits were included at each training location to provide hands-on experience.

The training curriculum was presented in classrooms and on working farms and at university research farms.

Seminars imparted 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 allowed for accurate acceptable application rates and protocols for development of the CNMP. GIS technology was utilized as practical. Instructors worked with educators and advisors in an interagency collaborative setting to understand the science behind the development of instructors’ nutrient management plans.

Site visits were planned to observe successfully implemented nutrient management plans on livestock operations. This training included elements of stream and watershed monitoring assessment using the Kentucky Agriculture Watershed Awareness Program.

This project built upon knowledge gained from previously funded Kentucky SARE project #A597-26. This project provided farm leaders with sustainable agriculture water quality leadership training at the grassroots level. The current project prepared professionals and farm leaders to work together in an interagency environment to address the science nutrient management and related education and recommendation opportunities.

Participants completed an evaluation assessment following each session to determine the level of knowledge, skills, and attitudes about animal waste utilization and nutrient management planning. Later program agendas were adjusted to accommodate the identified future needs of the participants.

A follow-up survey of participants was 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 were also be used as an indicator of success.

Accomplishments/Milestones

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 was primarily 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 relating to nutrient management requirements in the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Plan and emerging, nation-wide emphasis on the NRCS nutrient management standard (Code 590) greatly affected animal waste utilization and nutrient management planning for producers in Kentucky. Due to these changes, an increased number of program participants and additional training requirements were evident. The nutrient management training program was greatly expanded.

The core of the nutrient management training curriculum advanced to consist of the following three parts:

Part I – The Science of Nutrient Management
Part II – Policies and Regulations related to Nutrient Management in Kentucky
Part III – 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 presented to help agricultural professionals and advisors assist Kentucky producers meet the nutrient management planning requirements of the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Act. This Part I (science) training was repeated at three strategic geographic locations across Kentucky: Elizabethtown, Mount Sterling, and Somerset, Kentucky in November 2000. Two hundred and twenty-nine participants completed Part I training was 229. To accommodate future participants, Part I material was 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 comprehensive, three-ring binder can continually be updated to incorporate new information and training materials. The goal is to have this reference material available in Kentucky’s 120 county extension offices, the 121 conservation district offices, and on the counters in farm supply stores.
The Part II training sessions address nutrient management policies and planning guidelines. These sessions also reference the revised NRCS Nutrient Management Technical Standard 590. As of October 2001, Technical Standard 590 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 agronomy specialists from the University of Kentucky. Eight, Part II training sessions have been conducted at Slade, Princeton, Bardstown, Hartford, Lexington, and Somerset, Kentucky during 2001 and 2002. The number of participants completing Part II training to date is 350. This training included introduction to nutrient management planning exercises.

The Part III training sessions included field exercises that focused on learning and applying the Kentucky Phosphorus Index to assess phosphorus environmental risk. A comprehensive nutrient management planning exercise using information from a typical poultry farm was also included. The Part III training sessions were conducted at the University of Kentucky research farms located at Lexington and Princeton, Kentucky. The number of participants for the Part III training to date is more than 300. The total number of individuals who have participated in the training sessions is 400. 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)
Crop Service and Technical Service Providers (25)

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 March 2003 to provide updated information and educational tools for Cooperative Extension Service County Agents (120 participants expected). A one-day nutrient management farm tour was conducted during the West Kentucky All-Commodity Field Day with 250 people participating.

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.

Through this SARE grant, nutrient management training materials were developed and farm advisors were trained in nutrient management techniques. As a result, hundreds of landowners were contacted and benefited through on-farm field days and educational events at statewide commodity meetings.

Farmers in Kentucky have embraced this concept of managing animal waste with unparalleled enthusiasm. Kentucky farmers are a national success story with over $11 million dollars designated through the State Cost Share Program to help farmers construct BMPs for conservation purposes. Farmers throughout the Southern Region and the entire country are facing nutrient management challenges. This project combines educational demonstrations and practical exercises into a successful program.

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