Davis, Calif.-USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is putting to work nearly $12 million from farm bill conservation programs this year to help California dairy and other livestock farmers manage and use manure from their animals to fertilize their crops and improve water quality. “Manure that is applied in proper concentration and at the proper time is taken up and used by crops,” said NRCS California State Conservationist Ed Burton. “Nitrogen and other nutrients can be put to work so they cannot wash or percolate into water and become pollutants.” Burton added that the dairy industry has been “very responsive working with us to develop and implement plans that take advantage of natural fertilizer occurring in livestock manure and developing structures and management techniques to keep it away from water sources.” He noted that in the past five years, NRCS put roughly $47 million towards this goal. Producers typically put up half the cost of conservation projects, meaning the total NRCS-industry investment approaches $100 million.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain