ADSA Foundation Scholar Award: Implementing waste solutions for dairy and livestock farms

Water quality in the United States is threatened by contamination with nutrients, primarily nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Animal manure can be a valuable resource for farmers, providing nutrients, improving soil structure, and increasing vegetative cover to reduce erosion potential. At the same time, application of manure nutrients in excess of crop requirements can result in environmental contamination. Concentrated animal agriculture has been identified as a significant source of nutrient contamination of surface water, nitrogen contamination of groundwater, and ammonia emission. Areas facing the dilemma of an economically important livestock industry concentrated in an environmentally sensitive area have few options. If agricultural practices continue as they have in the past, despite the significant changes in agricultural intensity and changing environmental conditions, continued damage to water resources and a loss of fishing and recreational activity are inevitable. If agricultural productivity is reduced, however, the maintenance of a stable farm economy, a viable rural economy, and a reliable domestic food supply are seriously threatened. The identification and implementation of solutions to the generation of excess manure in confined animal feeding operations are necessary to enable such agricultural operations to thrive in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This paper will review an innovative collaborative approach to the development of a manure and litter solutions strategy by a diverse array of potential problem-solvers.