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Small Farms

Manure Storage

Stockpiling

Cost: Low
Stockpiling of manure is just what it sounds like- simply taking the solid manure and soiled livestock bedding and piling it up in a convenient location. This primitive method can be acceptable for the farm with just 1 or 2 horses or several sheep. However, the spot must be compacted and sealed so that rainfall landing on the pile cannot leach pollutants into the soil and ground water. Sometimes gravel in a packed pad works well, or stone dust is used. The area approaching the pad needs to be firm also to prevent rutting in wet periods. Also, the pile should have a very slight slope (1-3%) to facilitate drainage to a vegetated filter strip.

A stockpile can be covered with a plastic tarp to reduce odors, flies, and leaching concerns. Rainfall will run off to the edges and never penetrate the pile. The tarp will need to be anchored securely all around the edges. A filter strip of vegetation is still needed on the downslope side.

Management tips for stockpiled manure: Storing Manure on Small Farms : Good Management Practices

Dry Stack

Cost: Moderate
This is probably the most common and practical choice for the small livestock operation. A dry stack facility has three walls to contain the manure. The best ones have a poured concrete floor. The floor is slightly sloped for drainage out of the facility, and the drainage runs to an adjacent vegetative filter strip. The walls of a dry stack facility will be a minimum of four feet high. The walls, especially the back one opposing the entry, must be stout since the manure will be exerting outward pressure as the pile grows higher. Also, clean out is usually done with a front-end loader, and pushing will be done as the manure is scooped up. The walls can be poured concrete, cinder block, horizontal timbers, or vertical timbers. Secure anchoring below the frost line is crucial.

Management tips for dry stacked manure: Storing Manure on Small Farms : Good Management Practices

Composting

Cost: Moderate to High
The treatment of raw manure through composting is gaining in popularity. The final product is crumbly, low odor and resembles rich topsoil. It is often highly marketable. Composting reduces the amount of available nutrients, kills pathogens, reduces odor, and reduces manure volume. However, it requires management. A pile of manure left alone is not composting- it is decomposing, which is a big difference.

Composting requires a balance of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and liquid. When things are running properly, the center of the pile will reach 140 degrees, which kills pathogens and renders a relatively stable product. An untended decomposing pile has a nearly anaerobic core that produces objectionable odors when broken into. Although the center is often hot, it’s not hot enough to sanitize. Composting requires taking the pile’s temperature, and turning of the pile regularly to mix and aerate. Sometimes it will need water; other times it will need to be covered so it does not become saturated and lower the oxygen level to unacceptable levels.

Turning the pile is usually done with a small tractor equipped with a front bucket loader. There are many ways to set up the composting site. It could just be several long windrows, 4 – 6 feet high, on compacted ground or compacted gravel, or concrete. Or, there may be several small dry stack-type bays connected together side by side, and the manure is moved from one bay to the next, and the manure is mixed and aerated in the process. Manure and bedding, when properly mixed, can be transformed into compost in as little as six weeks.

For more information: Composting Livestock or Poultry Manure

Liquid Storage

Cost: Highest
Liquid storage is used by many larger dairy or swine farms. The waste is diluted with stall wash water and pumped to a lagoon or other holding location. From there the liquid effluent and the solids are pumped into an injector tank and spread in the field as a slurry, either sprayed on the surface or injected into the soil. Or, the effluent is spray irrigated and the solids are separated and spread in a conventional fashion. This type of storage and management system is usually the most complex and expensive, and is usually not practical for smaller livestock operations.

For more information: Liquid Manure Storage Treatment Options, Including Lagoons

Hauling Away

Sometimes, the best solution is to simply have a dumpster or some other form of semi portable holding structure, and place the manure in there. When needed, a waste management purveyor can pick it up for beneficial re-use on cropland that can use the organic matter and nutrients. Remember to still have a vegetative filter strip to treat the leachate draining from the dumpster as it drains away.

If the amount of manure being generated daily is small enough, a small manure spreader can serve as the storage device. When full, simply hook up the tractor and spread the waste in the cropland or hayland according to a nutrient management plan. Caution, though- if applying to pastureland, it is important to spread the manure about four weeks before a grazing cycle. Smothering of grasses can occur if the manure is applied too heavily. Parasite eggs in raw manure may cause an infestation problem on pastures.

Vegetated Filter Strip

It is crucial to have a vegetated filter strip to treat the runoff water coming from a manure pile or a concentrated livestock area. The combination of grass uptake, soil filtering and adsorption, and biological processes in the top inches of soil significantly reduces pollution potential of manure runoff. The filter should be established in a vigorous, thick stand of grasses adapted to the soil conditions at the site. Animals should be kept off of it, and it should be hayed at least twice a year to remove nutrients and encourage growth. On a flatter slope, the strip should be a minimum of 30 feet wide, wider if slope is steeper. A better option than a vegetative filter strip is a Vegetative Treatment System. See the article on What is a Vegetative Treatment System? or a runoff containment. To see all the runoff control options, see Do I need to control the barnyard or lot runoff on my small farm?

Related Pages

This is the second of three pages on this subject.

Back to Page 1 Storing Manure on Small Farms

Forward to Page 3 Storing Manure on Small Farms : Good Management Practices

Author: Fred Kelly, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, New Jersey Reviewed by Chris Henry, University of Nebraska Extension and Mike Westendorf, Rutgers University