farm in wisconsin

Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and local farmers this week an initiative intended to reduce manure runoff from farms into the lakes, all well as improve farm productivity and decrease climate change emissions.

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Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and local farmers this week an initiative intended to reduce manure runoff from farms into the lakes, all well as improve farm productivity and decrease climate change emissions.

For the 2018 budget, Parisi is allocating $200,000 to study the potential for creating a large-scale community facility where farmers could bring manure and have it composted.

The finished product would be less prone to runoff and could be trucked to areas in need of the nutrients found in manure, according to a statement from the county.

“People have composted grass clippings, leaves and yard waste for years and now the science tells us composting manure creates a product that reduces runoff and carbon emissions while shrinking manure piles by 50 percent,” Joe Parisi stated.

He continued, “Our farmers are our best partners in our community’s lake clean-up efforts.  Working with them to set up this time-honored practice on a bigger scale in the Mendota watershed is another innovative, effective approach at substantially decreasing algae growth in our lakes.”

Parts of our county are rich with phosphorus, but other parts of our region are not, according to the county.

Composting would make manure easier to truck and move, as well as reduce the volume by half and carbon emissions by 75 percent.

Yahara Pride Farms has been working with University of Wisconsin agronomists to explore the benefits of composting manure. The farmer-led, nonprofit organization was the first to bring the compost technology for manure to area farmers.

In the expansion, the operation could be set up at the county’s former yard waste composting site outside of Waunakee.

“Farmers are helping lead the way toward our water quality goals in the Yahara Watershed,” said Jeff Endres, chairman of Yahara Pride Farms. “Using composting technology to managing how nutrient-rich manure is applied to farm fields is a key component to achieving these goals.”

The process of composting creates a byproduct that is easier to apply with a form of phosphorus more readily available for plants to consume, reducing the risk it remains in the soil and vulnerable to runoff.

Composting manure also reduces carbon emissions by binding carbon to the soil, preventing it from being given off as a greenhouse gas.

The study included in the county executive's budget would explore:

• How many farmers could participate in a regional composting facility.

• Who would operate and maintain such a facility.

• Markets for the compost that is produced.

Parisi said,  “As one of the top 25 agricultural producing counties in the entire country, our multi-generational family farms and the thousands of jobs they create and support are here to stay. Working with them to promote composting is our next opportunity to facilitate the kind of collaboration that has brought the progress and successes we’ve seen to date in our ongoing work to clean our lakes.”

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