Research

Integrating Swine Manure and Strip Till

(2017)
Dan Coffman

Manure application is a challenge in the fall for many farmers due to time constraints from harvest, weather, etc. Also, adopting new application practices also poses a challenge because “not everyone is doing it”. For this proposal, I’d like to develop and investigate a better more sustainable system for liquid swine manure applications. The land in my area is always excessively tilled (in my opinion); especially after manure applications and I keep thinking that there has to be a better way. The goal of this project is to combine the field operations of primary fall tillage (strip tillage in this case) and manure application into a one pass system while improving soil health and ensuring a sustainable manure application method. I hope to determine if combining the field operations of strip tillage and manure application into a one pass system will promote soil health, reduce nutrient loss, increase yields and allow the farmer to complete field operations in a timely fashion while adopting new farming technologies.