Mismanagement
Potential Negative Impacts of Poor Manure Management Practices
Proper manure management is essential to the maintenance of healthy communities
and healthy ecosystems. Often we may think that our small farms don’t
have a significant impact on the environment. It’s the big guys
we need to be worried about, right? Wrong. You may be surprised
to learn that large scale facilities are more likely to be in compliance
with waste management regulations than smaller scale facilities. We
are all collective drops in the bucket so we all need to do our part.
You can make a difference.
Following are potential negative impacts on the local environment and farming
communities due to poor manure management practices:
- Unsafe drinking water due to ground water pollution and/or well contamination
- Water unsafe for recreating purposes such as swimming
- Animal health problems including the spread of disease among livestock
- Death of fish and other aquatic organisms
- Increased populations of unwanted insects
- Destruction of aquatic habitat vital to the survival of aquatic life
- Difficulties with neighbours due to the smell and unsightliness of stored
manure
- Losing the right to farm in a rapidly urbanizing area
- Drainage problems
Common Mismanagement
Practices
The smallest changes to your manure management system can have a significant
impact on the state of our environment and communities. The following
are some common mismanagement practices we see on a day-to-day basis:
If any of the above apply or may apply to your system, take a look below
at the simple changes you can make to ensure the heath of the environment
and your local community.
Uncovered manure piles
Manure piles must be covered at all times to ensure that leachate does
not escape from the pile/system and contaminate ground and surface waters.
Old piles
In the province of BC, manure can be “field stored” in piles
for up to nine months and must be covered. On a number of site consultations,
we have seen piles as old as 10 years sitting in fields. Spread your
compost piles during the allowed months so that you can take advantage of
those available nutrients.
Unmanaged piles
Many manure piles are left to manage themselves. Though some breakdown
may occur, in order to produce a quality compost product, it is essential
to manage the pile so that conditions are optimal for quick decomposition.
Check out our management guide in the Resources section for simple things
you can do to make sure your pile composts optimally.
Proximity to watercourses
It is important to check your local regulations regarding the distance
between watercourses such as streams and lakes and manure storage areas.
It is also important to check what type of watercourse you have on
your property if you have one. In many cases, what may appear to
be a drainage ditch to you, is a classified stream important to providing
fish food for fish downstream. We have been on a number of properties
where this has been the case so prior to building your dream compost
system, make sure it can actually go where you want it to otherwise
you may end up having the expense of moving it!
You also need to check local regulations about distance from wells or
water used for domestic purposes. This is particularly important
if your well is not very deep.
Incorrect carbon to nitrogen ratio
Though you may have the best of intentions to create a good quality compost,
you may not have the right ingredients to do so. Too much carbon
is a common problem when making horse manure compost and if you have
too much, your raw materials will not degrade well, if at all. Check
our compost guide in the resources section for more information.
Spreading raw manure
In the province of BC, raw manure cannot be spreading during the months
of October to April when fields tend to be wet and so the possibility
of leachate contamination is high. Consult your local regulations
to ensure you are spreading during the allowed time of year. Note
that it is always better to spread composted manure rather than raw
manure as properly made compost, will retain nutrients and store them
like a bank until plants require them whereas raw manure will leach nutrients
easily and so will not be as available to your plants.
Manure storage- unsealed
Though regulations do not necessarily require manure be stored in a sealed
site, it is an important consideration because it is the only way to ensure
that your pile is not leaching.
Dumping manure into streams
As much as one would like to think this doesn’t happen, it does! In
one case a lady that was doing this told us she thought she was returning
the nutrients back to where they came from. Honest ignorance is no
excuse! Dumping deleterious substances into watercourses is against
the law and fines surrounding this infraction can be substantial. Keep
your manure out of watercourses!
Leveling property with manure
Another common practice we have seen is dumping manure into low spots
to level properties. Not a good idea! Not only can this have
catastrophic effects on property drainage as that low spot may be serving
an important function, manure mixed with shavings behaves more like
a wet sponge creating sink holes on your property. Leave leveling
to a professional and use proper fill. Leveling with manure can
also release leachate into the environment. |
