Warm Temps Lead to Statewide Manure Runoff Advisory
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 01/10/2013
This week's mild and warmer weather conditions are prompting state natural resources officials to issue a manure runoff risk advisory over the next 10 days.
The DNR says the vast majority of the state is at high risk of runoff after temperatures have been consistently going over the freezing mark this month.
"The forecast shows there is a high risk for runoff of manure spread on fields in the next few days due to predicted rain and warmer temperatures," says DNR Nutrient Management Specialist Andrew Craig. "We encourage producers to hold off manure spreading until the risk is lower, and if they can't do that, to
take steps to reduce the risk runoff that could affect lakes, streams and groundwater."
The risk advisory forecasts are online and are updated three times a day by the National Weather Service. They are part of the Wisconsin Manure Management Advisory System that state and federal agricultural and natural resource agencies and the University of Wisconsin have put in place in recent years to help
Wisconsin farmers know when conditions are right to spread manure on their land.
Craig says the risk advisory also contains recommendations if farmers cannot avoid spreading manure on days when the risk of runoff is high. The risk advisory joins the nutrient application restriction maps featured on the Wisconsin Manure Management Advisory System for several years and found on the web at
www.manureadvisorysystem.wi.gov and easily reached by searching online for "manure management advisory system."
