Saskatchewan Agriculture is encouraging hog barn operators and feedlot owners to review their manure management strategies and develop contingency plans in anticipation of an extremely wet spring.
Brian Campbell, a regional engineer with the agriculture ministry’s livestock branch, said applying manure to waterlogged fields could pose a challenge for many livestock producers this spring.
Liquid manure lagoons are normally emptied before freeze-up to ensure that sufficient storage capacity is available heading into winter.
However, many operators had trouble accessing farmland last fall to apply their manure.
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As a result, lagoons went into winter carrying more liquid than usual.
The same situation applied to feedlots, dairies, poultry barns and small commercial livestock operations that normally spread solid waste on fields in the fall.
Stockpiles of liquid and solid manure will be larger than normal and some lagoons could be filled to capacity before spring spreading can take place.
“It (the issue) is on the province’s radar,” said Campbell. “A lot of guys went into the fall still not being able to spread all their manure.”
Campbell said provincial authorities were aware last year that wet field conditions were delaying applications.
The province prepared a fact sheet last November entitledContingency Planning for Winter Manure Applicationand sent it to provincial livestock groups. It contains guidelines for applying manure to snow covered fields.
Winter manure application isn’t recommended but is not prohibited in Saskatchewan.
The potential for surface water contamination is reduced if proper winter application procedures are followed.
However, the potential for incidental transfer of phosphorus and other contaminants, including E coli, increases when high levels of spring runoff are expected.
In Manitoba, concerns over the health of fresh water supplies led to a ban on winter manure application.
The ban already applies to large livestock operations in the province. It will be extended to small producers in 2013.
Also this year, the Manitoba and federal governments announced a $26 million Manure Management Financial Assistance Plan to help hog producers build and repair manure repair structures.
The goal of the program is to increase manure storage capacity in the province and eliminate the need for winter manure applications.
Manure application is a touchy subject in Manitoba.
In its final report to the conservation minister in 2006, Manitoba’s phosphorus expert committee identified nutrient loading from livestock manure as one of the key factors affecting surface water in the province.
In 2007, algal blooms caused by high levels of phosphorus covered an estimated 15,000 sq. kilometres of Lake Winnipeg.
In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, livestock operators who exceed a certain size and density are required to submit manure management plans that outline storage requirements and identify a land base where the manure will be applied.
Even though winter manure applications are banned in Manitoba, producers who have insufficient winter storage capacity can seek emergency approval from Manitoba Conservation to spread liquid manure in the winter.
Bryce Wood, a manure management plan co-ordinator with the province, said only a handful of pig barns received emergency winter spreading authorization last year.
In Saskatchewan, producers who deviate significantly from their management plans are encouraged to inform provincial authorities of alternate disposal strategies.
So far, few producers have contacted the province, Campbell said.
“A lot of guys did manage to get their manure down to the point where they could get through (winter),” he said. “Driving around, I haven’t actually seen any evidence of winter spreading, but I’m sure there is some going on out there.”
Saskatchewan’s winter manure application guidelines can be obtained at www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca/planning_for_winter_manure_application.
