Page 144 - Nutrient Management Planning Guide

138

Estimating Manure Inventory

Ideal Time to Estimate Volume and Weight

Estimate weight or volume as close to the time of application as possible. Solid manure will settle and lose moisture over the first few weeks, altering volume and density. This is a lesser concern for volume measurements with liquid manure.

Length of slope of liquid storage facility walls, if not available from design schematics or plans, should be measured when the facility is empty. Similar to solid manure, volume should be estimated as close to the time of application as possible, but before manure in the facility is agitated. Agitation releases potentially harmful gases such as H

2

S, which increase personal risk when working around these facilities.

Representative sampling of liquid manure for laboratory analysis requires that manure be agitated prior to sampling because nutrients settle into layers in a storage facility over time.

s i d e b a r