Containing the mess

SOUTH WAYNE, Wis. — Manure plays an important role in preparing fields for future crops but getting it where it belongs takes careful planning. When something in that process goes awry, like a spill, knowing how to respond can make a difference. 

Kevin Erb, outreach program manager with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Natural Resources Institute, division of extension, recently led a manure spill response demonstration at Cottonwood Dairy in southern Wisconsin. The farm is owned by Jim Winn, president of the Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance. 

“We know accidental spills are going to happen,” Erb said. “What we do in those first few minutes is really going to determine whether we are the lead story on the 6 o’clock news, or if we just have a minor problem that has to be dealt with.”

Local farmers and volunteer fire departments were invited to the event to learn from industry experts on how to manage these situations. Erb said each farm should have not just a response plan for a spill, but ensure each employee has access to and understands what the response plans are, too. 

“It’s much easier to think about putting together a spill response plan before there’s a problem, rather than in the heat of the moment,” Erb said. “It doesn’t matter if you have a plan in a 3-ring binder or if it’s written on the back of a napkin; it just has to be readable, understandable and accessible. Every employee needs to have access to the plan; it’s important to empower the employees.” 

The event included a real-life demonstration, dropping roughly 800 gallons of manure north of the farm’s freestall barns. As the manure flowed, several stations set up along the manure’s natural path showcased how the spill should be managed. 

The first demonstrated the importance of tilling land in front of the spill. 

“With manure moving off of a field and going down a slope, roughening up the ground slows things down and buys me time,” Erb said. “When manure hits this tilled ground, it immediately widens out. It spreads out laterally. If I’ve got a field runoff situation, working that ground is really important.”

The next setup demonstrated how to keep a drain tile protected. Erb used a 5-gallon bucket with the bottom cut out to create a barrier against the manure. 

“What’s important about this solution is that we aren’t just throwing the bucket over the top,” Erb said. “We’re going to take some of the dirt from nearby and create a foundation for the bucket and really press it down to form a much better seal.”

Erb cited other experiences to help create the seal, indicating that waste feed is another option to help generate that seal. A critical component of that is the moisture level of the waste feed.

“In the summer, the soil may be very hard and hard to get to,” Erb said. “I’ve used waste feed and even manure solids from a separator before. The wetter is probably better. I’ve seen a couple of cases where using drier waste feed tends to float up and the manure goes through it. But walking on that and packing it down can also make a huge difference.”

The third and final demonstration for Erb was the blocking of a culvert.

“In these situations, it’s important to have a spill kit handy,” Erb said. “A piece of plywood, a shovel, a 5-gallon bucket — all those little things that might be needed — it’s important that they’re available and ready to go.”

Before the final application, Erb and Jay Solomon, extension educator natural resources, environment and energy with the University of Illinois, began damming the culvert with a section of plywood. 

“We want to put something in front of it,” Erb said. “A piece of plywood works, a mudflap off the truck, I’ve even taken a piece of plastic from a silage bag. You can pile dirt on it and then put a board on it or just throw the board up directly in front of the culvert.”

Blocking the culvert limits the amount of manure that will ultimately make it through and potentially cause environmental issues in nearby bodies of water.

“The first thing to do is stop the spill,” Erb said. “Once the flow is stopped, that’s when I’m going to worry about containing it and cleaning it up. In that list of things to do is calling the Department of Natural Resources or the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, depending on where you are, and reporting what you should be reporting.”

The Wiota Fire Department was on hand and showcased a pair of their cleanup methods following the two applications. The first was a high-volume, low-pressure cleanup, and the second was a lower-volume, higher-pressure technique.

“The idea with the pulse of water, you can see how it’s pushing the grass clippings and the manure-coated water farther down,” Erb said. “If I compared this to what was here before, when I haven’t had the pulse come, you can see a definite difference.”

The fire department then set up for the second technique, using a fire hose to spray water over the area to help push the waste into the collection area.

“For this, we want to wash the manure, not the dirt,” Erb said. “We don’t want to dig into the ground with the water from the hose, just wash off the grass. If that happens, if we push into the two-inch, three-inch range into the ground, the next thing we have is erosion. This won’t clean it up 100%, but it’ll be 85% to 90% cleaned up.”

Erb reiterated that spills are not entirely preventable, but having a response plan can help farmers contain the spill and limit the environmental impact.