The Stearns County Soil & Water Conservation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the University of Minnesota Extension Service will be conducting a Manure Management & Equipment Field Day near Greenwald Thursday, Aug. 16, with registration beginning at 10 a.m. The field day will start at 10:30 a.m. and conclude at or around 3 p.m. Pre-registration is not required. To arrive at the site from Greenwald go 1.3 miles south on State Highway 4, then east on Stearns County Road 31 for 1.3 miles; signs will be posted. The Central Minnesota Federal Credit Union, Dairyland Supply of Sauk Centre, Edney Distributing, Arnold’s of St. Martin and Melrose Implement are sponsoring the field day. The morning session will feature management and land application of solid manure. Grant Pearson and Mark Lefebvre, nutrient management specialists from the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District, will lead off with a discussion of methods available for the calibration of manure handling equipment. All manure applied to cropland in Minnesota needs to be managed for the Nitrogen needs of the crop to be grown or follow a Phosphorus based plan where soil test Phosphorus levels are high to very high. Equipment representatives will be available to further discuss features on manure spreading equipment to aid in the agronomic application of manure to cropland. Solid manure spreading equipment will be demonstrated before lunch. The afternoon session will feature a liquid manure emergency response demonstration. Representatives from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Stearns County Environmental Services Department will discuss manure spill reporting requirements. Prior to the demonstration, Kevin Blanchet from the University of Minnesota Extension Service will discuss the goals of the emergency response demonstration. The actual liquid manure emergency response demonstration will focus on methods to protect open tile inlets and surface waters. The demonstration will utilize tillage to slow or stop the advancement of liquid manure and the construction of temporary earthen berms to contain manure flow. The afternoon will conclude with discussion of techniques available to clean up liquid manure discharges and land applying manure at agronomic rates to cropland. This field day is approved by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture as a Commercial Animal Waste Technician (CAWT) recertification workshop. Certified Commercial Animal Waste Technicians must participate in training approved by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to recertify in liquid and solid animal waste categories when their current license expires. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture will cover licensing requirements for custom manure applicators at this field day. For more information, call (320) 251-7800, ext. 3.
