Dairy farmers experiment with manure as commercial fertilizer alternative

The dairy BIFS project “Integrating forage production with dairy manure management in the San Joaquin Valley” reports in its January 2002 newsletter that dairy manure water can effectively replace synthetic fertilizer. Data reported in the article show that before the project, participating farmers used commercial fertilizer at an average per acre rate of 150 pounds of nitrogen, 70 pounds of phosphorus, and 45 pounds of potassium on their silage corn fields. As a result of the project, farmers in eight dairies nearly eliminated these synthetic fertilizer applications without reducing yields.

The savings generated from this approach are estimated at more than $57 per acre. Project coordinators also estimate that these practices will significantly reduce groundwater contamination from both chemical fertilizer and manure water. It is anticipated that dairy operators throughout the state will adopt these techniques when the economic and environmental benefits are widely reported.

More information is available at: http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/subpages/2001symposium/proceedings/ cas01happycowspettygrove-5.pdf