What can a producer do to manage manure on the farm?
Farm advisers and resource planners are now recommending that the P content of both manure and soil be determined by soil test laboratories before land application of manure. This allows farmers and their advisors to estimate the fertilizer value of manure to be applied, while soil test results can help a farmer identify the fields in need of P fertilization, those where moderate manure applications may be made, and those fields containing sufficient P that should be at a low priority to receive manure. Dietary manipulation of P intake indicates there is scope to reduce fecal P output without affecting dairy herd performance. Decreasing mineral P supplements to carefully match dietary P requirements of dairy cows and use of proper feeding management strategies, may help bring farm P inputs and outputs into closer balance. In addition to incremental improvements in the efficiency of nutrient utilization by dairy animals, management of nutrient load on a dairy farm could involve placing
