which is referring to the soil's water retention, drainage of excess water, air for their roots, soil texture and microorganisms to aide crop development and minimize disease.
Manure is an inexpensive way to routinely provide the three key elements and tilth enhancement. While it is not readily available to some who are close to or within cities; it is commonly available.
The successful use of manure is dependent upon several factors. The major factors are:
1. The availability of "clean", beneficial manure
2. The soils need for N, P, and K
3. The nutrient value of the manure
4. The correct measure of application
Clean manure which means free of heavy metals, antibiotics, and as many pathogens as possible. Manure is never clean and must be handled with care and the use of careful washing after contact with it. Do not try to use poultry, other bird, or swine manure. There are many diseases and toxins that need to be considered when using these fertilizers. It is best to work with cattle, horse, and sheep manure until one is sufficiently informed. Sheep manure is very good for those like me who had not heard of its use before.
The soil must need additional nutrient application or serious harm can occur to the corps and water in your area. If the soil is over enriched, seeds might not germinate, plants and their roots can be burned, fruit will not develop, and disease increases as the plants are weakened. Also, the excess nutrients can be more readily leached into the underground water table and washed into surface waters with rain drainage. Excessive levels of N and P cause harm to water ways. To prevent the waste of your time and resources, test the soil for these elements and other basic nutrients. Call your county extension for test information and how to sample your field's soil.
Next you need to know the fertility level of your manure. This can be tested also. See if your county extension does this or if you need to use a private lab.
Manure fertility depends upon the livestock that produced it, their fodder, their bedding material, and how the manure was collected and stored. Various animals produce different nutrient levels in their manure. See your county extension as different tables give slightly different reports in manure fertility. Sheep score best, then cattle, and then horses for all the tables I have read.
Manure quality also varies with the animals diet and how much bedding material is mixed in the manure. Also, the higher the bedding/hay content is in the manure, the less fertile it will be.
Next, you will need to know how much to apply to meet your crops and soil needs. The soil test will tell the current state of your soil. Know your future crops' nutrient needs as you do not want to apply any more than what they will need. You can read the seed planting recommendations of what you are planting from your supplier and from personal research. When the test results are returned asked the county extension how many pounds per square yard or tons per acre of manure you will need.
You can use simple buckets or a pickup truck to broadcast manure for a small area. You need to weight buckets empty and then with the manure to estimate how much to distribute to a certain number of square yards.
With the pickup truck, you will need a cubic estimate of the weight it can carry. How much does a 3 foot cube of your manure weight? Different loads of manure will vary in weight due to moisture and bedding content for example. Know how many cubits your truck bed can hold. Then you can construct a 3 foot cube that is open at the top and see how many weighed buckets it holds. These are two very simple methods for a small field. When applying the manure to your planting area keep count of how many buckets/truck loads were distributed for a certain measure of land to maintain the recommended distribution target.
Larger areas will require manure spreaders which are costly. The manure application rate with a spreader can be determined with use of plastic sheets or tarps. You will need a 5 gallon bucket or another container that can hold the plastic sheets or tarps with the manure application. Measure out the sheets or tarp to a size, such as 10' x 10' = 100 sq yards, that will fit into your bucket with its distribution of manure. Weight your bucket on its own empty and weight each sheet on its own empty.
Put three sheets down one at a time and in a row and secure them to the ground. Now you can drive your spreader over the three sheets using the same speed over each one as changes in speed will change the amount of manure dispensed. After dispensing manure upon the sheets, carefully fold each one separately and weight each sheet with manure together in the already weighed bucket. You will have the pound per square yard that your spreader dispensed for each sheet. Some recommend repeating this process once or twice more for a good average. You will need to wipe off and reweigh your sheets before each run and to adjust your spreader if more or less manure is needed per square yard. Try to have six to nine good sheet fulls after needed adjustments to the spreader's dispensing rate is made. After you have calibrated your spreader, you are ready to cover your field.
Fall dispensing of manure and immediate incorporation into the soil are strongly recommended and even required in some areas. I prefer to use the National Organic Program's standards for manure which require that manure be dispensed no later than 120 days prior to harvest of any edible part of a plant that touches the soil or no than than 90 days prior to the harvest of other crops for humans that do not touch the ground to include that of fruit trees. Salmonella and E. coli are appearing quite hardy even when composted.
Also, the incorporation of manure is frequently needed to prevent water pollution and needless loss of Nitrogen to the air. Manure can be spread over cover crops in the fall which minimizes leaching and runoff but the loss of Nitrogen is significant.
It is best and/or required not to dispense manure on wet, saturated, or winter soil as it can be easily leached into ground water or in runoff to surface water. Check with your county extension regarding recommendations and legal regulations
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