Manure storages

MANURE STORAGES: START PLANNING EARLY AND BUILD MORE THAN YOU NEED

By Lilian Schaer CONTRIBUTOR

Having enough storage for manure on the farm is one of the best tools when it comes to good nutrient management. It gives farmers more options for safely spreading manure when crops can use the nutrients, and it keeps those nutrients out of water courses by avoiding the need to spread on frozen or snow-covered ground.

Expanding an existing storage or building a new one is a significant financial undertaking for a farm business, but there are many other aspects to such a project farmers must be aware of. That includes various regulations that come into play, as well as what regional requirements a municipality might have in place in addition to rules set by the province.

According to agronomist and nutrient management consultant Don King of The Soil Resource Group, there’s no one-stop-shop where farmers can find all the answers they need, but there are various tools and sources of information that can help.

For example, when it comes to determining how much storage they’re going to need, farmers can turn to nutrient management consultants or to their builder.

“People come to us when they are in the planning stages to get a better idea of storage requirements and options,” King says. “Most people expanding know what they need for liquid manure storage, but sometimes don’t have a good idea of the size required for their operation when it comes to solid manure.”

The answer varies, depending on the size and type of farm, as well as crop rotation, but the key is to have enough storage to manage through a wet fall or other challenges where it might not be possible to get all the manure applied before winter.

Covering a liquid manure storage can also expand its holding capacity considerably. According to calculations by Christine Brown, field crops sustainability specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), a 115-head dairy barn with a 12-foot by 145-ft. circular liquid manure tank can store up to 121 extra days of manure if it is covered.

A handy tool for farmers to determine how much storage they need is the manure storage sizing tool (MSTOR) that is part of OMAFRA’s AgriSuite collection of free-to-use online tools that help farmers and agronomists manage nutrients. MSTOR helps plan and size on-farm infrastructure for nutrient storage by calculating the volume of liquid and solid manures generated by common livestock and poultry operations. It can be found at www. ontario.ca/agrisuite.

Regardless of what the calculator suggests, however, Darrell Schoonderwoerd of Schoonderwoerd Bros. Concrete Ltd. encourages producers to build more storage than they need. His company has been building manure storages in southwestern Ontario since 2003, and as farms have gotten bigger during that time, so have manure storages. Even so, a good buffer, he suggests, is 25 per cent larger storage size.

“Oversizing your storage is a good idea to give yourself more flexibility,” he says. “If you’re too tight (on space), you’ll be out spreading when you shouldn’t be and there’s a cost to being on the land when you shouldn’t.”

In order to get a building permit for a manure storage, farmers need to complete a nutrient management strategy for their farm and have it approved. According to Schoonderwoerd, that can often be the part of the project that takes the most time, so he strongly urges producers to get that process started as soon as possible.

Proper siting on the property and in relation to other buildings is key, and here too, consultants and builders can advise on key aspects farmers need to consider when planning a storage project. Information is available from OMAFRA, as well as municipal planning officials, builders or consultants like King.

“Where to place the storage is part of the decision-making process and we will draw farmers’ attention to sensitive features, like the distance to wells, waterbodies and creeks,” he says. “There is also a minimum distance requirement to other properties and residential areas.”

Conservation Authorities will address local environmental regulations governing flood plains or proximity to water bodies, and if a farm is located in a specific geographic area, such as the Oak Ridges Moraine or the Niagara Escarpment, additional rules and restrictions will apply.

And in some jurisdictions, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks monitors nutrient management strategy approvals as well, he adds, which adds an additional layer of complexity.

“Where there are regional differences in Ontario, there is no one-stop-shop for farmers to assist with these types of projects,” King says. “A municipality won’t consider a permit until farmers have their nutrient management strategy approved, for example, which ultimately puts the onus back on farmers.”

More information about manure stewardship and long-term nutrient management options are available at https://www.farmfoodcareon.org/timing-matters/.

Lilian Schaer

is a freelance agricultural journalist, writer and communications professional based in Guelph, Ont. She was born in Switzerland and raised on a dairy farm in Grey County. Follow her on Twitter @foodandfarming.

This article is provided by Farm & Food Care Ontario as part of the Timing Matters project. The project is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.