Top Tips for Environmentally Friendly Muck Storage

Consider these tips to help you deal with your muck piles in an environmentally friendly and compliant way.
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Horse people have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to being good stewards of the land. But sometimes, in the rush of our busy lives, we let this go to the wayside. Horse farms generally are not considered livestock operations, and in the past many of these farms have been able to avoid state and federal environmental regulations. But now, there is increasing scrutiny of horse farm manure management practices. Now is the time to protect your farm against potential compliance violations.

The reason for the increasing scrutiny is clear: More than 48% of the rivers and streams designated as impaired by the United States Environmental Protection Agency are impaired because of agricultural nonpoint source pollution–the type of pollution that cannot be attributed to single drainage from a pipe or discharge point. The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires each state to create and enforce a set of water quality standards. Under Section 319 of the CWA, states must assess and manage nonpoint source pollution. This pollution can occur on agricultural operations when precipitation runs off pastures, cropland, manure piles, and other surfaces and picks up nutrients, sediments, and chemicals. Once these pollutants reach surface and ground water sources they can harm aquatic and land-based ecosystems and can cause human and animal illness, or even death.

Dealing with the up to 50 pounds of manure, 10 pounds of urine, and 20 pounds of soiled bedding each horse produces daily (depending on bedding type and number of times cleaned per day) can be the least rewarding part of the job, but it must be done. Here are some tips to help you deal with your muck piles in an environmentally friendly and compliant way:

  • Keep muck away at least 300 feet away from streams, ponds, sinkholes, and wetlands.
  • Roof manure storage facilities. Surface runoff and precipitation can infiltrate muck piles, potentially creating pollution problems downstream.
  • Seal with concrete the areas where muck piles will be placed-and don’t forget the sides! This stops the nutrients and pathogens within the manure from leaching into the ground, which can seep into groundwater. Concrete is an incredibly strong material that can withstand scraping and muck wagon traffic. Walls will help you contain and constrain your muck piles.
  • Manure storage facilities should be large enough to safely hold all muck produced between land applications or until it is hauled away.

If you don’t have your manure hauled away, develop and implement a nutrient management plan (NMP). These plans can help you monitor nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which are applied to soils. When excessive nutrients are present in soils they can run off to water sources, causing harmful eutrophication (the "choking out" of aquatic life) and health problems in livestock and humans. Further, having a NMP ranks you above those without one if you are applying for technical, design, or cost-share assistance from the National Resources Conservation Service

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