Managing nutrients from swine operations is receiving increased scrutiny from environmental agencies due to concerns about nutrient surface runoff, as well as groundwater contamination.

As the nation’s second largest producer of hogs, Minnesota needs to maintain its reputation for clean, safe water for drinking, processing and recreation.

According to Jay Moore of Healthy Farms by Bioverse, key to managing manure-sourced nutrients is treating the animal manure right in the storage pit located under pig barns prior to applying manure to fertilize crops like corn and soybeans.

“Technology created in Europe and backed by research* confirms how inserting into the pit a nitrogen stabilizer called dicyandiamide (DCD) provides significant environmental and economic benefits,” Moore said.

Blending DCD with various bacteria and enzymes stabilizes nitrogen in the manure while creating a consistent liquid nutrient. Such a treatment binds the nitrogen into the soil not only to reduce percolation into the groundwater, but also reduces the volatilization of greenhouse gasses.

“This is sustainable agriculture in action,” Moore notes, “enhancing manure used for fertilization for better yields and less environmental impact.”

Additionally, this DCD-treated manure provides an additional value-added revenue stream for farmers, who can sell a higher quality manure fertilizer to local farmers.

Healthy Farms by Bioverse offers a unique AGRASLAT deep pit delivery dispenser with bacteria and enzymes to break down manure to a simpler form of readily available nutrients. The next step is to allow the DCD product to stabilize the nutrients allowing long-term storage until it is injected into the fields.

Moore points to the research on DCD performed by leading international university researchers, as well as refinement by New Fashion Pork, Jackson, Minnesota, as verification of the effectiveness of making the treated nutrient a more valuable and environmental-friendly natural fertilizer for agricultural use.