Patrick Maschhoff, company nutrient management specialist, explains that the software provides detailed cropping information along with visual images of barn layouts on everything from feed bins and pit fans to the location of nearby neighbors who might be impacted by the operation.

The software program also provides features such as roads and rivers, then allows the user to create customized buffers of sensitive environmental features. Illinois, for example, requires a minimum 200-ft. setback for any agricultural land application from any waters of the state.

Every CNMP on a farm includes an overview of information on crop and manure production, livestock production and mortality rates. Producers submit annual crop yield reports and three-year plans for crop rotations.

When all of the features of a farm site are layered in, they can be loaded onto software in the tractor cab's computer tablet. This enables a manure application crew to know the exact location of buffers, setbacks and property lines. “Then, the farmer can come back and supplement those sensitive areas that didn't receive any nutrients with commercial fertilizer as needed,” says Maschhoff.

Part of a grower's plan are best management practices and conservation practices they have been advised to follow, adds Maschhoff.

The grower farm profile also features an emergency response plan, which includes a calling tree to farm personnel, and state and federal officials to be contacted in case of calamities such as a barn ventilation outage or a manure spill.

Synergiance, one of three USDA-approved transaction handlers in the United States, is quickly migrating toward the ability to download and modify nutrient management plans. As a TSP, Laatsch would then be able to work with company and contract growers to edit and submit CNMPs.

The entire platform is fully implemented and used extensively in The Maschhoff operations in Illinois. Calculations and reporting modules are just now being tested for Iowa. Other states will be added as needed.

Laatsch says he frequently gets questioned as to why growers need a CNMP. In short, CNMPs meet virtually all of the requirements for a federally sanctioned, confined-animal feeding operation, without a lot of extra baggage.

“The perception is that there are all of these extra things that go into a CNMP, and the reality is that there are only a couple of bells and whistles on top of the EPA, CAFO-mandated nutrient management plans,” Laatsch says. The features that are not mandated by EPA include feed management and emergency response plans.

“The other attractive aspect of doing a CNMP is that there is federal cost-share funding available to the producer to support development of those plans,” he says. Obtaining environmental quality incentive program (EQIP) funds can sometimes be a long and arduous task, but Laatsch says The Maschhoffs have been urging growers to seek funding early to help complete conservation programs by the time of the EPA deadline.

For growers doing a good job environmentally, The Maschhoffs offer them heavily discounted consulting services, which include an annual environmental checkup, says Laatsch.

Individual pork producers really need to make use of a consultant as they formulate CNMPs, in order to successfully fine-tune manure nutrient resources to fit their farms and management styles, Laatsch urges.

Those efforts will pay dividends, too, he says.

“There are dollars lying on the table. Those pounds of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are directly translatable to commercial fertilizer dollars,” says Laatsch. “On a modern hog farm with deep-pitted manure storage, we are talking about a value of $100-125/acre.

“A consultant can really help you optimize many of those dollars, while also helping to keep your operation legal,” he observes.

Laatsch finds that one often follows the others. When producers meet nutrient management regulations, that compliance results in financial gain.

This year's large switchover to corn plantings offers a prime example of how a consultant can help your cropping operation. “I think the main message is if you think you can apply manure every year to corn in a continuous-corn rotation, you just need to be very mindful of the potential for soil buildup of phosphorus and potassium. Again, this calls for the intervention of a consultant or professional,” he comments.

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