Northeast Region Certified Crop Adviser (NRCCA) Study Resources

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In This Section

• Introduction
• PO 44 Setting a realistic goal
• PO 45 Determining crop nutrient needs
• PO 46 Environmental effects of nutrient loss
• PO 47 NRCS 590 nutrient management standard
• PO 48 Mass nutrient balance
• PO 49 P-based vs. N-based manure application
• PO 50 Surface application and immediate incorporation of manure
• PO 51 Precision feeding
• PO 52 Environmentally sensitive areas
• PO 53 Nutrient management plans
• PO 54 Calculate total manure production
• PO 55 Capacity factors in manure storage
• PO 56 Three option for P management
• PO 57 The P index
• PO 58 Impacts of practice on P index
• PO 59 Calculate crop P removal
• PO 60 Nitrate leaching index (LI)
• PO 61 Practices to reduce nitrate leaching
• PO 62 Manure odor issues
• PO 63 Agricultural air quality
• PO 64 Reducing pathogen concerns from manure
• Summary

Competency Area 6: Nutrient Management and Planning

PO 64. Describe and understand practices that reduce pathogen concerns from manure.

1. Improved calf care
2. Herd management factors that reduce pathogen loading
3. Cold temperatures
4. Long storage
5. Methane digestion
6. Composting

Improved calf care includes prevention of contamination of new calves with adult manure, prevention of calfhood diseases such as BVD, scours, and other health protocols.  This reduces the likelihood of pathogens being present in manure, and produces high-quality animals.

Herd management factors that reduce pathogen loading include cleanliness, treatment and prevention of disease, and proper nutrition.

Cold temperatures inhibit and kill pathogens, which often require moderate or near-body temperatures to survive.

Extended storage kills pathogens over time (approximately one year).  In addition, the ability to store manure for extended periods allows application of manure based on crop needs rather than storage capacity, reducing the volume of manure spread at one time.

Methane digestion treatments kill many pathogenic bacteria.

Composting greatly reduces pathogenic bacterial numbers, as they cannot survive more than one year, and are often killed by the heat produced.