A new Iowa State University podcast tries to answer some of the questions about a subject that is vital to some, and others just think it stinks. Dan Andersen, the creator of the “Talkin’ Crap” podcast, says it is an interesting time in the world of manure.
“There’s a lot of technology that’s evolving and becoming available to farmers. And then we’ve never seen maybe more passionate interest in water quality in the state and opportunities for carbon credits related to agriculture, animal agriculture,” he says. “So it seemed like an opportune time to start discussing some of those issues.” Anderson is an associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at ISU.
He chose the “Talkin’ Crap” title intentionally and says you have to have a sense of humor about the subject, while also talking about the serious side. “I was a little worried that people might think it’s a political podcast given the time of year, but it’s definitely about manure,” Andersen says. Andersen says manure is more than a byproduct of animal production. “It is an important fertilizer in this state that applies. It supplies the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for 20 to 25% of Iowa’s farm acres. So certainly, if you talk to a farmer about it, they recognize much of that value and want details on how to do a little bit better,” he says.
Andersen says the water quality perspective is also important and manure’s role in that needs to be discussed as well. “What are we doing? Why are we doing it? And making sure that we’re, we’re giving useful information that and facts about how we’re using it, why we’re using it, and maybe places where we can do better so that both sides can come to the table and have a have a conversation about it,” Andersen says.
Anderson says the use of new technology has helped improved the use of the world’s oldest fertilizer. “We have more flow meters on all of our equipment, we have flow, oftentimes multiple flow meters, or the ability to real time monitor how things are going. So we can have automatic shutoff. Just like if you are watering your garden and forgotten left the hose on right overnight, that’d be bad,” he says. “In the world of manure, now that we have more technology, we just can eliminate some of those mistakes. And it is nice to see that the number of spills continues to decrease.”
He says they don’t want to see any spills that impact water quality, but there are still spills and fish killed every year from manure. Andersen says at least there are signs of progress in the right direction. The smell of manure is probably the thing that most non-farmers. Andersen says work continues to find ways to deal with that too. “We know ways to reduce odors. The unfortunate part is finding ways to pay for reducing odors,” Andersen says. “We’ve seen some innovations in the world of impermeable covers — so putting a plastic cover over the top of the manure storage — to limit its contact with air. But that can be expensive.” Andersen says those covers often don’t fit with the deep pit production model that we tend to have fore manure here in Iowa.
You can listen to the “Talkin’ Crap” podcast on the Iowa State University Extension website.