Abstract |
New pens for the confinement and feeding of dairy cattle were constructed under a continuous roofed area to prevent the addition of precipitation to the cattle excrement. The manure was collected in underground sumps, pumped to large anaerobic lagoons for wet-season storage, and subsequently applied to crop land during the comparatively drier summer months. Observations were made to evaluate at least partially the effect of the roofed environment upon the cattle. The pump and pipelines transport of manure slurry either to storage or to large bore field irrigation nozzles was quite successful. Observations of surface ponding and runoff, soil penetration, and crop response indicated that the concept of seasonal storage and seasonally scheduled crop land disposal of dairy manure slurry can be an environmentally acceptable and agriculturally compatible method of dairy manure managment. |