Whole-Farm Nutrient Management on Dairy Farms to Improve Profitability and Reduce Environmental Impacts

Abstract

The National Center for Manure and Animal Waste Management determined that a large body of knowledge exists about livestock waste and nutrient management, but that the development and implementation of manure and animal waste best management practices is limited by lack of integration of research and extension information. A collaborative project was initiated to define and evaluate nutrient management tools developed and used in New York and Wisconsin that are applicable across regions, and tools or models that are region specific but whose approach and structure may be applicable across regions. This document is the final report of the project. It contains outlines of nine nutrient management tools used in New York or Wisconsin and provides readers with comparative reviews of the tools to aid in tool selection. Model developers and agricultural educators can use this information to improve their nutrient management research and teaching efforts. In addition to software evaluations, this project report describes the dairy production systems and state regulatory environments and gives an overview of three university courses developed to address nutrient management issues in New York and Wisconsin. The primary audiences for this project are researchers, extension personnel and other professionals that generate knowledge and provide assistance to dairy farmers in issues related to feed, fertilizer and manure management.