Your Farm Needs to Have a Manure Management Plan

By Donna Foulk, Equine Extension Educator

(We ran this article last month, but we feel it is important to get the word out on this new regulations.) 

All livestock operations, including those that have horses, are required to have either a nutrient management plan or a manure management plan for their farm.  Even farms with one horse are required to have a plan.  The number of horses and animal density will determine what kind of plan is needed for a farm operation.  

Farms that have 8 animal equivalent units (one AEU = 1,000 lbs.) and exceed the animal density of 2 animal equivalent units  per acre are considered to be concentrated animal operation(CAO) and are  required to have a nutrient management plan. A nutrient management plan must be prepared by a certified nutrient management specialist and has to be submitted to the Conservation District for approval.  These regulations fall under Act 38 and horse farms have been regulated under this act since 2006.

Under the new revised DEP guidelines, smaller operations and farms that have lower animal densities will need to have a manure management plan prepared for the farm.  Manure Management plan do not need to be written by a specialist.  A farm owner can write the plan.

The plan does not have to be submitted for approval but has to be written in a specific format using the DEP Manure Management Workbook. The workbook can be obtained on line at panutrientmgmt.cas.psu.edu. 

Penn State Cooperative Extension will be offering workshops designed to help horse farm owners prepare their manure management plan.  For more information contact Donna Foulk 610-746-1970; dlf5@psu.edu or Ann Swinker 814-865-7810; aswinker@gmail.com.