It has been an important day on our farm. Coincidental that on Earth Day we completed a big task in our quest to harmonize the natural nutrient cycles of our farm. It was manure application day!
You see our pigs create this wonderful product called manure. By keeping our pigs indoors, protected from the elements, we are also able to capture their manure in deep pits under our barns. This manure is packed full of nutrients our crops need during their time of growth.
Our pigs happen to poop year-round, but it is only during a few short months that our corn can fully utilize the nutrients from the manure. By capturing and storing the manure, we can inject it a few inches into the soil just before our corn is planted in the spring. It lays in wait for the growing crop roots. By doing this we maximize the amount of nutrients available for that high growth stage and minimize the amount of nutrients that volatilize into the air or run downstream in the water.
But just how scientific is this process? You might be surprised that we put a lot of thought into it and use several different scientific labs in mapping out our manure application plan. Each year we sample soil from our fields. From these samples we know precisely how much phosphorous, potassium and other vital nutrients for our crops are available in the soil. We do this by small acre zones in our fields, congruent with soil type and topography of each field. We also send off some samples of our manure to a laboratory to see how much nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients are available in it. We then assess the fields' nutrient needs to optimize our coming crop and calculate the amount of manure that should be applied based on its nutrient make up.
Another cool part of this process? We essentially eliminate the need for synthetic fertilizers on these fields, keeping it all natural. And it is not unusual for these fields to have our highest yielding crops. Coupled with our cover crops and no-til practices, I would argue this is a tremendous example of a natural, regenerative way to raise food.
And how is this nutrient cycle completed? In October we will harvest these crops, store them in our bins and feed to our pigs throughout the coming months. And what do they do with it? Why produce a nutrient dense pork product for all of you, and leave behind any unused nutrients in their manure for the next year's crop.
Checkout a picture below from the application. You can see we use a dragline system, where the manure is pumped from our barns through a large hose to the moving tractor and manure applicator.
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