Dairy's Bottom Line - Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin

18 PDPW - Dairy’s Bottom Line • January 2007ST‘Discovery Farms’Creating Qualified Nutrient Management PlansWhen I talk about nutrientmanagement planning a fewquestions usually come up.These questions include: whendo I need a plan; what happensif I don’t have one; and who isqualified to write a plan? Wejust finished a set of classeswith county staff who workwith producers and consultantson writing and implementingnutrient management plans. Iwould like to try and providean answer to at least some ofthese questions.I can’t think of a singleoperation that doesn’t havesome type of fertilizer programalready in place. Okay, it’s notdocumented in a three ringbinder or on a computer somewhere,but there is a system inplace that outlines how manypounds of fertilizer or manureare applied to fields going intovarious cropping systems. Asound nutrient managementplan simply accounts for thenutrient needs of a crop andcredits the various sources(soil, manure, legumes, etc.).Just like balancing your checkbook,this accounting insuresthat you don’t over apply nutrients;it saves you money andreduces the risk of nutrientsnegatively impacting the environment.The fact is that noteveryone balances their checkbook,but I think we can agreethat it’s a good idea.So, everyone probably hasa nutrient management plan ofsome sort, but it might notcomply with state requirementsor be the most organized planin the world. As you’re implementingyour New Year’s resolutions,maybe one of yourgoals should be to evaluate theuse of nutrients on your farm todetermine if your applicationrates, methods and timing areappropriate based on cropneeds. You should also checkto insure that you have identifiedcritical sites and locationson your operation where thepotential for loss is high (sinkholes, shallow soils, nearstreams, lakes etc.).Will someone come to yourdoor demanding to see yourplan? That depends on howyou apply manure and othernutrients to your fields andwhether there is a significantrunoff event. If you applymanure that runs off a field andimpacts a stream or lake, then Iwouldn’t be surprised if someoneasks for your plan. If youhave one and can documentthat you are following it youwill be able to determinewhether or not your managementpractices were appropriate.Some runoff events arecaused by producer error andothers by unforeseen weatherevents. Without documentationyou have nothing to justify yourmanagement decisions.That leaves the question ofwhat is a qualified NutrientManagement Plan and who isqualified to write one? A qualifiedplan is one that meets therequirements outlined in theNutrient Management PlanChecklist in ATCP 50. You canget copies of this checklistfrom your local conservationoffice or online at the DATCPwebsite under nutrient managementplanning. Here is the website:www.datcp.state.wi.us/arm/agriculture/land-water/conservation/nutrient-mngmt/planning.jsp.The key is that a planis qualified if it meets therequirement on this checklist. Aplan developed by a professionalthat has training or certificationmay not be qualified if therecommendations are outsideof requirements on the checklist.What about producer writtenplans? Producers can devel-See Plans, on Page 24