Developing best management practices for dairy farms in Manitoba

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by Harry Siemens

Harry Siemens - Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, along with the University of Manitoba, is working to develop Best Management Practices (BMPs) to give dairy farmers the tools to better manage the changes outlined in the Livestock Manure and Mortalities Regulation.With Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) funding, administered by the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council (MRAC),Dairy Farmers of Manitoba (DFM) are working with the University of Manitoba for a Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP) project called reducing whole farm surpluses of phosphorus and potassium in intensive livestock operations.

The DFM and the University of Manitoba identified 10 dairy farms in the province that use a variety of management tools to

?Some produce all their feed, some purchase all their feed, and one uses swine manure on its fields,? says lead researcher Kees Plaizier, professor in dairy management and nutrition at the University of Manitoba.

Plaizier and a team of researchers monitored inputs and outputs of nutrients, specifically P and K, for a 12 month period with the analysis due out sometime this spring or summer. This will help them develop best management practices to reduce any surpluses of P and K that may exist on the farm and make the best use of imported P and K on the farm.

?This project will help dairy farmers deal with the new phosphorus-based manure regulations and avoid accumulation of potassium on the farm that could have negative impacts on the health of the cows,? he says.

Dairy Farmers of Manitoba vice chair, and Rosser, Mb. dairy farmer Henry Holtman says the study examines all levels of things that enter and leave his farm.
?Figuring the nutrients, going in and out specifically looking at things that could carry phosphorus and potassium,? says Holtman. ?Once we realize what this is, we can look at developing best management practices for all dairy farms.?

Holtman says the University of Manitoba, the driver in this project provided the technicians to monitor and record everything they did on their farm and the nine others participating in the study.
The DFM vice chair says as dairy producers they are trying to do their part, too because they all contribute to the problem in the form of nutrient loading.
?We have regulations in place and trying to adopt practices that would reduce that even further,? says Holtman. ?We are putting science to it because we all contribute to the problem in Lake Winnipeg. Maybe everybody should look at themselves and measure their nutrient releases. Not a bad idea at all.?
Lloyd and Allen Grenkow operate their dairy just north of the City of Winnipeg and felt participating in this project was a great opportunity.
?As the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba we represent all the dairy farmers and try to do the best we can for reducing phosphorus runoff from the farm and do everything right,? says Lloyd.
Both Lloyd and Allan don?t think the final analysis will present them with few, if any surprises.
?In total we manage pretty well and we think a lot of farmers do,? they says. ?It is time we tell those who care and the world what we are doing and that we are doing it right.?
The technicians worked hard at representing all the dairy farms and getting the correct and more than enough data to make the project worthwhile, work, and representative.
?To make anything of it, you must have a benchmark, or you can?t forecast or do anything unless you have benchmarks of different things,? says Lloyd.

?It is always a pleasure to work with forward thinking producers who are always ready to jump on any kind of research bandwagon,? says Terri Garner, dairy research technician at the University of Manitoba who together with dairy research technician Deanne Fulawka collected the data, analysis (statistical and chemical) and writing. ?We pretty much ?double-teamed? it all the way.?

More at http://www.siemenssays.com/blog/7739.html
 
 
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