Winter Application of Manure in Ohio

Most producers have had the needed dry weather this fall to get livestock manure applied to fields. However, a wetter than normal corn crop and full elevators, did delay corn harvest longer than normal in some areas. For livestock producers waiting on frozen ground to apply manure, here are some things to keep in mind. Frozen ground would be soil that you cannot inject the manure into or cannot conduct tillage within 24 hours to incorporate the manure.

Permitted farms are not allowed to apply manure in the winter unless it is an extreme emergency, and then movement to other suitable storage is usually the selected alternative. Several commercial manure applicators have established manure storage ponds in recent years to help address this issue.

In the Grand Lake St Marys (GLSM)watershed, the winter manure application ban from December 15th to March 1st is still in effect. Thus, no manure application would normally be allowed in that time period.

The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Code 590 was revised in 2020 and now applies statewide in Ohio (except to GLSM). It states the surface application of manure on frozen and snow-covered soil is not acceptable. An emergency exists as a temporary situation due to unforeseen causes and after all other options have been exhausted. In this situation only limited quantities of liquid manure shall be applied to address manure storage limitations until non frozen soils are available for manure application. All applications of liquid manure to frozen and snow-covered soils must be documented in the producers’ records and must be applied in accordance to ALL the following criteria:

• The rate of application shall not exceed the lesser of 5,000 gallons/acre or P removal for the next crop.
• Applications are to be made on land with at least 90% surface residue cover (cover crop, good quality hay or pasture field, all corn grain residue remaining after harvest, all wheat residue cover remaining after harvest).
• Manure shall not be applied on more than 20 contiguous acres. Contiguous areas for application are to be separated by a break of at least 200 feet.
• Apply manure to areas of the field with the lowest risk of nutrient transport such as areas furthest from streams, ditches, waterways, with the least amount of slope.
• Application setback distance must be a minimum of 200 feet from grassed waterways, surface drainage ditches, streams, surface inlets, water bodies and 300 feet minimum from all wells, springs and public surface drinking water intakes. This distance may need to be further increased due to local conditions.
• For fields exceeding 6% slope manure shall be applied in alternating strips 60 to 200 feet wide generally on the contour, or in the case of contour strips on the alternating strips.

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