Manure Management

The Water Quality Information Center at the National Agricultural Library
Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture

Manure Management

An Animal Feeding Operations (AFOs) Web resource is available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Program.

Animal Waste Management information and planning tools are available from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Confined Animal and Manure Nutrient Data System "provides state and national data about confined animal numbers and associated manure nutirents." Data can be downloaded in spreadsheet files or as a report.

Confined Animal Production and Manure Nutrients (June 2001) is available from the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS). Based on Cenus of Agriculture statistics, this report explores the relationships between manure production on farms and adequate amounts of farmland for the use of produced manure.
Also from ERS:
- Manure Management for Water Quality: Costs to Animal Feeding Operations of Applying Manure Nutrients to Land (June 2003)
- Managing Manure: New Clean Water Act Regulations Create Imperative for Livestock Producers (February 2003)

The Crop Nutrient Tool, is "a tool for calculating the approximate amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that is removed by the harvest of agricultural crops," provided by the USDA Natural Resources and Conservation Service.

The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship (LPES) Curriculum project "delivers a national curriculum and supporting educational tools to U.S. livestock and poultry industry advisors, who in turn, will help producers acquire certification and/or achieve environmentally sustainable production systems."

Managing Manure: New Clean Water Act Regulations Create Imperative for Livestock Producers is an article from the USDA Economic Research Service that looks at the manure management situation in the United States with an emphasis on the hog industry.

Manure and Byproduct Utilization: USDA ARS National Programs provides access to research on the "development of systems to optimally integrate animal manure and other byproducts into sustainable agricultural practices...The goal of the Manure and Byproduct Utilization National Program is to develop agronomic management practices that effectively utilize manure and other byproducts and are protective of the total environment (soil, water, air, etc.), and public and animal health."

Manure Nutrients Relative to the Capacity of Cropland and Pastureland to Assimilate Nutrients: Spatial and Temporal Trends for the United States presents an analysis of the "temporal and spatial changes in the number, size, and kind of livestock operations, and the changes in animal units, quantity of manure nutrients produced, land available for manure application, and excess manure nutrients at both the farm level and the county level."

The National Agricultural Law Center has information on the legal aspects of Animal Feeding Operations.

The Profile of the Agricultural Livestock Production Industry, a sector notebook issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Compliance, contains sections on animal waste management and animal feeding operations.

Recommended Methods of Manure Analysis describes strategies for sampling and testing livestock manure. In order to "better manage manure as a nutrient asset," these strategies apply standard techniques to quantify nutrient composition. This manure testing manual was developed as a multi-regional tool and is useful with state-level nutrient management programs.

Trends in the Potential for Nutrient Loading from Confined Livestock Operations presents estimates of manure nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from confined livestock and compares these estimates with nutrient uptake by crops. Spatial and temporal trends related to these comparisons are shown.

Water Quality Information Center bibliographies related to the subject, manure management:

Beef Manure Management, a bibliography of 89 citations from the Agricola database, added to the WQIC Bibliographies section.

Compost Nutrients; seventy-eight citations on the topic from the AGRICOLA database; January 1992 - September 1995.

Dairy Farm Manure Management; bibliography of 129 citations from the AGRICOLA database; covers January 1988 - November 1994. Updated by Dairy Farm Manure Management II, which covers research January 1995 - September 1997.

Manure Storage; fifty-three citations on the topic from the AGRICOLA database; January 1992 to September 1995.

Monitoring Water Quality for Agricultural Wastes and Agrichemicals; bibliography of 166 citations from the AGRICOLA database; covers January 1991 - June 1993. Part II contains 104 citations; July 1993 - September 1995.

Readings on Manure Management; 142 citations from the AGRICOLA database, 2000-2001; Prepared for "Animal Residuals 2002: Agricultural Animal Manure Management, Policy and Technology," Sheraton National Hotel, Arlington, Virginia, May 6-8, 2002.

Swine Manure Management; 214 citations on the topic from the AGRICOLA database; January 1990 - September 1995. Part II updates 115 citations dated September 1995 - September 1997.

Return to the Water Quality Information Center at the National Agricultural Library.
Last update: October 29, 2004
The URL of this page is http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/manure.html

J. R. Makuch /USDA-ARS-NAL-WQIC / jmakuch@nal.usda.gov

Stuart Gagnon /USDA-ARS-NAL-WQIC / wqic@nal.usda.gov