All livestock operations must deal with animal waste. Many of the more successful operations have turned this industry by-product into an asset that improves their land and, in some cases, generates additional farm income.

The University of Kentucky’s Agricultural Communications Services has produced a new instructional video titled Nutrient Management for Farms. All county Extension and NRCS offices in Kentucky will receive copies.

The program reviews some of the best ways to manage the inevitable waste from beef, poultry and swine operations so the manure or litter becomes an effective fertilizer and soil amendment, benefiting both the farmer and environment.

The video includes interviews with producers such as Robert Appleman who co-manages a large dairy operation with his brother Ted in Bracken county. Their large operation generates sufficient animal waste for effective use on their farm and three neighboring farms.

“We do a lot of intensive cropping here. We sometimes raise the same crop in a field for 10 to 15, years and we couldn’t do that without the use of manure,” Appleman said. “ The manure has been a big help in getting more dollar per acre from the land.”

The video reviews the critical steps in a good nutrient management plan such as taking representative soil and manure samples and then getting help to properly interpret the various recommendations generated from the lab results.

The information can help define the amount of manure that can be applied to each field, and when the applications should made for the best results.

The video was partially funded by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the Bluegrass Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

Copies of the video are available through the UK College of Agriculture Instructional Video Library for $20.00. Make checks payable to the University of Kentucky and mail to: Agricultural Communications Services, Instructional Video Library, 131 Scovell Hall, Lexington, KY, 40546-0064.