Manure Setbacks
Manure management planning ensures careful handling and use of livestock manure to obtain its full value as a crop nutrient while protecting water and air quality.
Manure management plans describe how manure generated at a feedlot will be used in upcoming cropping years. Plans typically specify nutrient rate limits and setback distances for applying manure near lakes, streams, wetlands, drainage ditches, open tile intakes, sinkholes, wells, mines and quarries. Once a manure management plan is developed, following the plan often involves using specially designed facilities and technologies to store, process and transport manure securely and special techniques for applying manure to cropland.
Minnesota's feedlot rule (Minn. R. part 7020.2225) and some local county ordinances require developing and following a manure management plan in certain circumstances. Additional manure management activities required for many livestock operations (and recommended for all) include keeping manure application records, testing manure for nitrogen and phosphorus content and testing soils for phosphorus.
Why manage manure?
Environmental benefits
- Improves soil quality and promotes carbon sequestration by building or maintaining soil organic matter
- Protects surface water quality by reducing nutrient and sediment runoff (the organic matter in manure creates an open soil structure that stabilizes nutrients and lets water in more easily, reducing runoff)
- Also protects surface water quality through manure application methods that prevent pathogens, nutrients and organic matter from entering waterways
- May reduce the risk of groundwater contamination from nitrogen leaching compared to commercial fertilizers, as the nitrogen in manure is more stable and more easily utilized by crops
- Reduces the risk of drinking water contamination by ensuring appropriate setbacks when applying manure near wells or in vulnerable drinking water supply management areas
- Helps protect air quality by controlling odors from manure
- Conserves energy compared to manufacturing, mining, processing and transporting of commercial fertilizers
Practical benefits
- Reduces or eliminates the need to purchase commercial fertilizer for crops
- May improve crop use of nitrogen relative to commercial fertilizers; the nitrogen in manure is more stable, releasing slowly as soils warm and crops grow
- Improves soil productivity through increased water-holding capacity and greater nutrient availability and retention
- Aids compliance with Minnesota regulations on manure application
- Well managed manure can be used in a methane digester to produce energy, and control odors and methane emissions
Similar & related practices
- Manure management is often integral to crop nutrient management, comprehensive nutrient management planning, feedlot/barnyard runoff controls, rotational grazing and manure digesters.
- Manure management often involves manure storage, manure storage covers and composting. Another related practice is manure storage abandonment.
- Manure management is often an important component of drinking water protection in agricultural areas.
More information
Guidance from USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Minnesota practice standard: Manure Transfer (634)
- Practice introduction: Manure Transfer (634)
- Minnesota practice standard: Pumping Plant (533)
- Practice introduction: Composting Facility (317)
- Minnesota practice standard: Waste Storage Facility (313)
- Practice introduction: Waste Storage Facility (313)
- Minnesota practice standard: Waste Facility Cover (367)
- Minnesota practice standard: Closure of Waste Impoundments (360)
- Minnesota Nutrient Management Standards & Policies
- Manure Sampling & Analysis
Regulations
Minnesota Rules 7020
- 7020.2010 Transportation of Manure
- 7020.2025 Animal Feedlot or Manure Storage Area Closure
- 7020.2100 Liquid Manure Storage Areas
- 7020.2110 Unpermitted or Noncertified Liquid Manure Storage Areas
- 7020.2120 Poultry Barn Floors
- 7020.2125 Manure Stockpiling Sites
- 7020.2150 Manure Compost Sites
- 7020.2225 Land Application of Manure
Guidance on Minnesota Rules 7020 - Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
- Manure Management Plan Requirements & Checklist (PDF)
- Manure Management Plan: Step-by-Step Guide for Minnesota Feedlot Operators (PDF)
- Manure Management Planning Sensitive Area Guidelines (PDF)
- Land Application of Manure: Minimum State Requirements (PDF)
- Applying Manure in Sensitive Areas (PDF)
- Manure Application Rate Guide (PDF)
- Evaluation of Maximum Nitrogen Rates (Manure)
- Liquid Manure Storage Areas (PDF)
- Siting Manure Storage Areas in Minnesota's Karst Region: State Requirements (PDF)
Manure management in general
- Manure Management Plans: Frequently Asked Questions - University of Minnesota Extension
- Manure Management and Air Quality in Minnesota – University of Minnesota Extension
- Manure Storage - University of Minnesota Extension
- Manure Treatment - University of Minnesota Extension
- Organic Matter Management - University of Minnesota Extension
- Managed Grazing as an Alternative Manure Management Strategy - USDA Agricultural Research Service & Land Stewardship Project
Manure management on cropland
- Certified Manure Testing Labs - Minnesota Department of Agriculture
- Manure Application - University of Minnesota Extension
- Calibrating Manure Spreaders - University of Minnesota Extension
- Manure: Waste Disposal or Soil Enhancement? - University of Minnesota Extension
- The Value of Manure - University of Minnesota Extension
- Runoff Reductions with Incorporated Manure: A Literature Review - Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
- Nitrogen Availability from Liquid Swine & Dairy Manure: Results of On-Farm Trials in Minnesota - University of Minnesota Extension
See also resources for Similar & Related Practices above.