Manure Incorporation in No-Till Systems

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- [Leon] Manure Incorporation in No-Till Systems.

No-till has been a significant contributor to environmental improvement on farms and has contributed to improved soil health.

But on livestock farms with significant manure, leaving all the manure on the surface has caused some environmental challenges as well.

Concentration of phosphorus can lead to an increased loss of dissolved phosphorus in the runoff.

Nitrogen losses when the manure is surface applied can be significant as well.

Improvements in equipment have made it possible to incorporate manure in no-till systems with minimal soil disturbance.

This creates an opportunity to keep the benefits of no-till systems while resolving some of the concerns created by concentration of manure on the surface.

Here you can see manure can be injected in rye stubble with very minimal disturbance.

Custom manure haulers are investing in injection equipment, making the service available in many areas of Pennsylvania.

- I'm Jeff Zimmerman with Agri-Applicators.

Been in the hauling business since 2000.

We've been doing broadcast application up until 2017.

We recently added three tank-mounted injector units.

We've really been watching the injection industry over the years and just felt like the equipment wasn't quite up to par.

But through research over the years with these disc injectors, we really feel they've come a long way with minimal soil disturbance still working, being compatible with no-till.

The big thing with the injection is you get your benefits as far as the odor reduction, which is a huge benefit, and then the nitrogen saving.

So we're able to utilize the nitrogen, getting it in that root zone.

Also, I know there's a lot of push for no-till, but we feel like this is a good compromise with a very low disturbance injection where you're getting phosphorus in the root zone, getting it off of the top to prevent runoff.

- [Leon] One of the disadvantages of incorporation is the additional cost of approximately $16 an acre.

Farmers are seeing the value of the nitrogen savings is sufficient to cover the extra costs, as explained by Tim Kurtz.

- I'm Tim Kurtz.

We farm Kurtland Farms in Elverson, Pennsylvania, and we have about 400 cows and farm about 200 acres.

So the trial that we did with Penn State was to have strips, alternating strips of surface applied and injected manure.

And we replicated this over five times.

And we did the corn silage yield at harvest, and the yield difference overall averaged about three ton per acre, advantage on the injected versus the surface applied manure.

And based on our results and what we've seen in our farm, we feel like the cost is worth the, it's worth the cost to do this, and we've seen the return on that cost.

- [Leon] Nissley Brothers also experienced financial benefits from incorporation.

- Hi, I'm Darwin Nissley, and I farm in the Mantua area with my brother.

We farm as a partnership as Nissley Brothers.

Farm about 450 acres and feed steers, about 800 head at one time.

This year we injected some of our manure to see how, see if we could save some dollars with nitrogen.

We estimate with the cost of the injection, the added extra cost, you can justify that because we can cut our nitrogen probably around 25%, nitrogen at 35 cents a unit.

You have an advantage by injecting it.

You're saving several dollars an acre.

- [Leon] For those who farm in areas with neighbors nearby, odor control is a very significant benefit to incorporating the manure.

- Hi, I'm Bernard Nissley, the other partner of Nissley Brothers.

Another advantage of injecting is odor control.

We like to think about our neighbors, and we don't like the smell ourselves.

And we inject it right around the house where I live, and my wife said she never smelled it.

I came walking in the house for lunch and asked her, and she says, "I only smell it now," because I walked in the house.

(man laughing) Yeah.

- [Leon] So in summary, manure incorporation can provide benefits in no-till systems.

There is a reduction of odor and a reduction in the loss of nitrogen saving fertilizer dollars.

In addition, there's a major environmental benefit of reducing dissolved phosphorus runoff and total phosphorus runoff.