October 9, 2003

 

Instruction Provided on Manure Management Issues

Regulatory agencies and the public will continue to scrutinize livestock production facilities and practices in the future, particularly those relating to waste management, according to Charles Linderman, Area Livestock Waste Management specialist at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center.

"Producers and their advisors need management recommendations based on science and research," he says. The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship, or LPES, curriculum, consists of 26 lessons that address achieving high environmental standards relative to the following topics: nutrient management; animal dietary strategies; manure storage and treatment; land application; and outdoor air quality.

National manure management experts from land-grant universities, the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Agriculture developed the lessons. "The curriculum provides a comprehensive review with supporting recommendations for enhancing a farm’s environmental stewardship," says Linderman. It is available as a printed document or a CD.

In addition to the original 26 lessons in the curriculum, the LPES team has recently released a series of 24 fact sheets on the Environmental Protection Agency’s new concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) regulations. Each fact sheet addresses a common producer question about the regulations with a non-technical review of the regulations and recommendations for achieving compliance.

A Livestock Environmental Stewardship Workshop based on the LPES curriculum will be held Nov. 3-5, 2003 in Mandan, ND. A registration fee of $140 will include copies of LPES materials. Sponsors of the workshop are the North Dakota State University Extension Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, North Dakota Agriculture Department, North Dakota Department of Health, and North Dakota Stockmen’s Association. For information or to register, contact Bridget Johnson, NDSU Dickinson Research Extension Center, (701) 483-2306 or Charles Linderman, NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center, (701) 652-2951. Deadline to register is Oct. 24.

The individual LPES lessons and CAFO fact sheets can be reviewed, free of charge, at the LPES website at www.lpes.org. Copies of the LPES CD and the printed document, as well as the CAFO fact sheets can be purchased from MidWest Plan Service, a 12 state cooperative educational activity of land-grant universities. Online ordering is available through the catalog section of the service’s website at www.mwpshq.org  or by phone at 1-800-562-3618.

Funded by the U.S. EPA's National Agriculture Assistance Center with program oversight through the USDA, the LPES curriculum is intended to foster the voluntary achievement of environmental stewardship principles within the animal industry.

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Source: Charles Linderman, (701) 652-2951, clinderm@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Writer: Teresa Oe, (701) 231-8371, teresa.oe@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu