Whole-Farm Nutrient Management on Dairy Farms to Improve Profitability and Environmental Impacts
Software Evaluation Project

NEW!! Final Report available in .pdf format.

In the final report you will find:

• A comparison of nine nutrient management tools used in New York and Wisconsin,

• A review of nutrient management regulations and the current status of the dairy industry in both states,

• A description of nutrient management educational tools developed for both states,

• and other related information.

A group of specialists from the University of Wisconsin, US Dairy Forage Research Center and Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences received a grant from the National Center for Manure and Animal Waste Management in February 2003 to evaluate nutrient management tools for dairy farms in New York and Wisconsin.

The project objectives are to:

• Describe dairy production systems in NY and WI;

• Review and describe nutrient management legislation (federal, state, local);

• Evaluate current software packages ability to address nutrient management issues in specific regions and across regions.

Members of the collaborating groups met in February 2002 via video conference and on June 2-4, 2003 in Madison, Wisconsin to define project outputs and timelines. 

During the Fall 2003 semester, a seminar series, video-linked between Cornell and Wisconsin will feature one of each of the selected software packages each week. Speakers at this seminar series will address specific aspects of their software to respond to project  evaluation criteria.