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WARM TEMPS COULD CAUSE FARMERS PROBLEMS
Friday, February 6th, 2009 -- 12:29 pm
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
Ag experts are warning farmers the February thaw could cause problems.
Manure spread during these conditions is more likely to run off, wasting nutrients and potentially harming surface water.
"We've got some significant snow, we hear temperatures are rising and we're starting to hear forecasts for (rain)," says Kevan Klingberg of Wisconsin Discovery Farms, "The conditions are starting together where some of our snowpack is going to begin melting and head toward the streams."
Plus, the ground is still frozen, and there’s a layer of ice in the snowpack—both those conditions prevent nutrients, like phosphorous and nitrogen, from absorbing into the soil, he says.
Manure run-off is known to cause fish kills.
Not only is bad for the environment, with fertilizer prices high, it’s also costly for the farmer.
"It's worth (up to) $30 per ton, with the price of fertilizer as they are now," Klingberg says.
The best thing for farmers to do over the next few days is not spread manure at all. If they must, Klingberg recommends thinking about the best acreage to utilized, maybe a northern-facing slope that won’t melt as fast.
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