Components of Dairy Manure Management Systems1

Dairy manure management systems should account for the fate of excreted nutrients that may be of environmental concern. Currently, regulatory oversight is directed primarily at the assurance of water quality; N is the most monitored element. Land application of manure at acceptable fertilizer levels to crops produced on the farm by hauling or by pumping flushed manure effluent through irrigation systems is the basis of most systems. Nutrient losses to surface and groundwaters can be avoided, and significant economic value can be obtained from manure as fertilizer if adequate crop production is possible. Dairies with insufficient crop production potential need affordable systems to concentrate manure nutrients, thereby reducing hauling costs and possibly producing a salable product. Precipitation of additional nutrients from flushed manures with sedimented solids may be possible. Composting of separated manure solids offers a possible method to stabilize solids for distribution, but, most often, solids separated from dairy manures are fibrous and low in fertility. Manure solids combined with wastes from other sources may have potential if a marketable product can be produced or if sufficient subsidy is received for processing supplementary wastes. Solutions to odor problems are needed. Energy generated from manure organic matter, via anaerobic digestion, reduces atmospheric emissions of methane and odorous compounds. Use of constructed wetlands or harvesting of photosynthetic biomass from wastewater has the potential to improve water quality, making extensive recycling possible.