Recipient Organization
UNIV OF WISCONSIN
21 N PARK ST STE 6401
MADISON,WI 53715-1218
Performing Department
Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Non Technical Summary
Organic livestock farms produce manure that contains valuable nutrients essential for growing crops and maintaining healthy soils. However, the equipment and practices used to separate solid and liquid components of manure often fail to capture and preserve these nutrients effectively, meaning much of this potential fertilizer value is lost. This inefficiency can force farmers to purchase more off-farm fertilizer, increasing costs and reducing the benefits of recycling nutrients within the farm system. The loss of nutrients can also contribute to water quality problemsand diminished soil health, all of which have broader impacts on rural economies andcommunity well-being. Improving manure separation and the use of separated products will help farmers cut costs, protect water resources, and strengthen the resilience of organic agriculture.To address these challenges, this project will work directly with organic livestock farms to measure how well their manure separation systems recover nutrients and identify practical changes to improve performance. Researchers will conduct field trials to test separated solids and liquids as fertilizers on crops and pastures, tracking how well plants use these nutrients and how soils respond over time. The team will share results with farmers, agricultural advisors, and industry partners through fact sheets, videos, field demonstrations, and workshops, ensuring that the information is clear, practical, and easy to apply on the farm. By combining on-farm measurements, controlled research trials, and targeted outreach, the project will create science-based recommendations that help farmers get more value from their manure, reduce waste, and make informed nutrient management decisions.If successful, this work will result in more efficient nutrient recycling, healthier soils, reduced fertilizer purchases, and lower impacts from organic livestock operations. These benefits extend beyond agriculture by supporting rural economies andsafeguarding water quality.The knowledge gained will also help industry partners develop and promote better nutrient management strategies, ensuring that both individual farms and the wider community benefit from more sustainable and efficient food production systems.
Animal Health Component
80%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
80%
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
The major goal of this project is to improve manure separation efficiency and use of separated manure products at organic livestock facilities. Research is needed to accurately determine and improve nutrient separation efficiency, improve nutrient use efficiency of separated organic manure products, and improve the fertilizer value of nutrients within separated manure. This project seeks more specifically to:1. Measure nutrient separation efficiency of on-farm organic livestock manure separation systems, assess practice changes to improve manure nutrient separation efficiency, and develop a protocol for assessing livestock separation system efficiency for organic livestock producers.2. Conduct field trials with land appliedseparated manure solids and liquids at organic fields at UW-Madison Arlington Research Station to assess and improve nutrient use efficiency (fertilizer value) and impacts of land application on soil biology and soil health.3. Develop extension/outreach materials for stakeholders from existing literature and integrate data gathered from this research to specifically address improving nutrient use efficiency from separated organic manure products in cropping systems and pastures. Disseminate data to stakeholders using existing extension channels and organic industry partners.4. Evaluate impact of research and outreach programs with guidance from stakeholders.
Project Methods
Methods are summarized by objective:1.Separation efficiencies will be measured at a minimum of five farms over three years, with the intention of getting more farms to participate in later years. A protocol will be developed with guidance from farmers and industry partners on developing a science-based sampling scheme to assess individual separator efficiencies. A suite of management practices for separation of manure will be assessed to determine their impact on separation efficiency in years two and three. Finally, data will be developed needed for additional assessments/objectives in this proposal. Stakeholders will evaluate the impact of the changes integrated at their farm, and data presented to stakeholder audiences will be tracked to determine change in knowledge base and changes in practices on-farm.2. Field trials will be conducted using separated manure products on organic fields to determine the nutrient use efficiency and soil health impacts. Trials will assess various applications rates, timing, forms of nutrients in separated products, value of macronutrients, and impact to crop yields. When organic producers are willing at organic farms, researcherswill also evaluate the impact of using separated manure products on pasture to assess the management practices and fertilizer value in comparison to traditional organic fertilizers purchased off farm.Data will clarify the most critical factors in driving value and operational efficiency at a field scale from separated manure products.The data produced will also provide information on NUE of the various separated manure products and how to integrate them most effectively into livestock/cropping systems to gain economic and operational advantages. Evaluation of scientific data will be through peer review. Extension and outreach activities will enable evaluation of the materials developed to ensure they meet producer needs in the form of a review panel.3.Materials from this work will be directly translated to a variety of extension and outreach materials for use by stakeholders (e.g., fact sheets, videos, presentations, field days). The PIs have extension positions and will include the outcomes of this work in their outreach efforts beyond industry to other stakeholders such as producers, policymakers, and the public. This includes developing peer-reviewed extension materials and presentations to a wide number of stakeholders. The information will be disseminated via partnerships with organic livestock industry (e.g. Organic Valley) and PI Silva's existing extension network for organic production (e.g., Westby Creamery, Stonyfield, and the Organic Trade Association Dairy Council). The information will be developed to be able to guide industry partners into making targeted reduction strategies for their milk and beef production and to make direct practice recommendations to their producers. All materials will be evaluated through partners to ensure the materials meet producer/stakeholder needs before publication. In addition, at each extension event participants will complete evaluations to improve material and material delivery as well as guide next steps in needed research.4.Stakeholders are the main purpose of the evaluation to determine if researchers were successful in providing scientific information that was then used to make informed choices. This will be easiest to evaluate on the farms that are participating in the research but will also include those that are considering a manure management change and the impact to their thought process (evaluated at each presentation and field day or other outreach event with an audience using standard evaluation tools developed by the University of Wisconsin-Extension).