LACOMBE, Alta. – As Alberta’s livestock industry continues to grow, so too do the piles of manure that accompany it.
During a day-long workshop held here recently, agriculture engineers like Rich Smith, of Alberta Agriculture, told farmers to look beyond manure as a waste problem. Used properly, it’s a valuable resource which could have commercial value if fertilizer costs increase.
A government study in the county of Lethbridge is monitoring water quality and manure’s value as fertilizer on plots of barley. A comparable study is being conducted in central Alberta, where soil type and climate are different.
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The county of Lethbridge has more cattle on feed than any other area in the province and manure disposal there is becoming a problem for some, said Rod Bennett, also of Alberta Agriculture.
The study zeroes in on the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District which is called “feedlot alley” by some. Besides 116 feedlots, it has 62 dairies, 63 hog farms and 17 poultry operations, all generating waste water and manure.
No place to spread it
There are about 175,000 acres of land available for manure disposal in the district. Besides using their own property, many farmers have arrangements with neighbors to deposit manure on their land. However, about two-thirds of the operations don’t own enough land to dump their manure at an environmentally sustainable rate, said Bennett.
As part of the two-year-old study, researchers are attempting to correlate crop requirements and yields with the proper amount of manure.
When applied properly, manure is a good source of nitrogen. Farmers have to consider the types of crops being grown. Legumes such as alfalfa, which is grown extensively in the south, don’t require more manure for nitrogen, he said.
Besides being rich in nitrogen, manure contains phosphorous. Crops only need about a third as much of this mineral, so applications may be adjusted to make phosphorous management more critical than nitrogen.
Application rates should also be monitored because manure contains high levels of salt which can hurt germination.
