Always trying new things.

Today, with the help of a local farmer we are experimenting with putting manure on wheat in order to save money on nitrogen (NH3) costs.  The hog industry has done this for a few years now, but since the NH3 content of dairy manure is lower than hog manure it hasn't really been done in our area.  The manure we are allowed to put on according to our CAFO permit will only amount to about half the required NH3, this farmer will have to return to the field in a few days and add liquid NH3 to ensure a great crop.  Driving over a field twice is less than ideal, but adding expensive commercial NH3 is less than ideal as well. It will be fun to look the differences in the field when manure was placed, and where only NH3 was used. Check out this picture of John Fry injecting digested dairy manure through his aerway tool.  http://tweetphoto.com/17386118    

On another note,  the smell from digested dairy manure is significantly less, and hopefully more palatable to any farm neighbor concerned about the smell.