Livestock & Nutrient Management
Planning for the livestock system as a whole.
Planning for livestock facilities, manure, nutrients, runoff, and the conservation practices that tie the system together.
Livestock projects can involve structures, manure handling, nutrient management, drainage, engineering, conservation practices, and funding requirements all at once. KES helps farmers look at the whole system, understand how the pieces affect one another, and develop a plan that works for the operation.
The Whole Plan
Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans (CNMPs)
A CNMP brings the major pieces of a livestock operation together into one coordinated conservation plan.
The goal is to correct or reduce the resource concerns created by concentrated livestock use — stabilizing heavily used areas, collecting and managing manure where it could otherwise affect soil or water, keeping clean water from becoming contaminated, and protecting the farm’s soil, water, and other natural resources.
Structural practices deserve especially careful planning. If a structure is going to take land out of vegetative production potential for decades, it should be solving a resource problem serious enough to justify it.
The selected practice also needs to fit the operation well enough to remain useful, manageable, and worth maintaining over the long term.
Depending on the farm, the CNMP may also address livestock numbers, manure production, land application, nutrient management, runoff, grazing, crop management, and the other conservation practices needed to make the system work as a whole.
What goes into a CNMP? The details vary by operation, but the plan typically brings together the livestock, manure, land treatment, management, and conservation-practice pieces.
- Animal numbers and production system
- Manure and bedding estimates
- Manure collection, handling, and storage
- Land application and nutrient management
- Pastures, cropland, and land treatment
- Production-area concerns
- Conservation practices and alternatives
- Implementation needs and technical requirements
Livestock Facilities & Structural Practices For many producers, the project starts with something physical — a storage, heavy-use area, shelter, feeding area, access road, runoff system, or other improvement.
The structure itself is only part of the planning. Location, drainage, soils, access, manure handling, animal movement, nearby water resources, setbacks, engineering, and future use of the facility can all affect whether an alternative makes sense.
KES helps evaluate those considerations before the project moves too far toward design or construction.
Structural and facility planning may include
- Waste storage facilities
- Heavy-use area protection
- Bedded-pack or livestock housing
- Feeding and concentration areas
- Roof runoff management and clean-water diversion
- Access roads
- Fencing and watering systems
- Facility siting and engineering coordination
Manure Handling, Storage & Application A manure system has to work every day, not just on paper.
Planning includes how manure is produced, collected, handled, stored, transported, and ultimately applied to the land.
KES considers the practical details of the operation along with storage needs, bedding, seasonal constraints, field access, spreading equipment, and how the manure will be used as a nutrient source.
Manure-system planning may include
- Manure and bedding production
- Collection methods
- Storage volume and duration
- Handling and transfer
- Stockpiling or temporary storage
- Field application
- Timing and seasonal limitations
- Spreader capacity and application logistics
- Manure sampling and nutrient content
Nutrient Management & Related Conservation Practices Nutrient management is one part of a larger conservation system that also includes how the land is managed.
The goal is to use manure and fertilizer efficiently while meeting crop needs and reducing unnecessary nutrient losses. Depending on the operation, other management practices may also be part of the plan.
Nutrient management
Other conservation practices that support nutrient management may include:
- Grazing management
- Cover crops
- Crop rotations
- Residue and tillage management
Production-Area Runoff & Water Quality Planning looks at how water moves through and around livestock concentration areas and how clean water can remain clean.
Livestock concentration areas can create water-quality concerns when runoff moves through manure, feed, mud, or other contaminated areas.
Planning often involves separating clean water from contaminated water, controlling runoff, stabilizing heavy-use areas, and considering nearby streams, wetlands, drainageways, wells, and other sensitive areas.
Production-area planning may include
- Runoff from livestock concentration areas
- Clean-water separation
- Roof runoff management and conduit outlet protection
- Diversions and swales
- Mud and heavy-use area stabilization
- Erosion and drainage patterns
- Nearby surface water, setbacks, and other sensitive areas
- Vegetative treatment and other runoff-control practices
NRCS Engineering & Technical Services Some federally funded projects require technical reports, evaluations, designs, or supporting documentation.
KES provides NRCS technical services within its certified scope as a Technical Service Provider (TSP), including CPAs, DIAs, CEMAs, site-suitability evaluations, mapping, soils documentation, and conservation-practice planning.
Engineering design and site plans are a separate scope of work. When a project requires detailed site plans, grading, drainage, structural design, or other engineering services, KES coordinates that work with qualified engineering partners.
The goal is to keep the technical work connected to the conservation plan and the project moving toward implementation.
Planning Requirements & Stakeholders Funding requirements, legal or property restrictions, engineering needs, and technical requirements can affect which livestock and manure-management alternatives are practical and implementable.
The landowner remains at the center of the plan.
KES considers applicable requirements early so the plan reflects the landowner’s goals while accounting for the legal, property, and funding requirements that may affect implementation.
Funding requirements
Federal and state financial assistance or cost-share programs, grants, and other funding sources may include policy, technical requirements, or other conditions that need to be considered during planning.
Legal and property requirements
Applicable laws, regulations, permits, conservation easements, preserved-farm deed restrictions, and other property requirements may affect what can be done and where.
Already Have an NRCS Contract?
Have livestock or nutrient-management work in your contract?
If your contract includes a CNMP, Nutrient Management, a CEMA, DIA, CPA, engineering-related work, or another livestock technical service, send John a copy of the contract or tell him what is listed.
KES can help you understand what is required, how the pieces fit together, and what needs to happen next.
Email John
Tell me where the farm is, what you’re working toward, and what livestock or nutrient-management services are included in your project or contract.
John@KlutheEnvironmental.com
John@KlutheEnvironmental.com