Purdue News
Purdue News
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March 12, 1999
Extension helps farmers comply with law, save moneyWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Dubois County farmers who have to fill out Indiana confined feeding approval forms that rival tax returns in complexity have found a consultant who often helps them obtain a "refund."The adviser is Jim Peter, director of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service office in Dubois County, who has helped farmers save money while they comply with the law. He studied the law and the forms, "then I tried to take a proactive stance, to make people aware, get them up-to-date and into compliance." His work is part of a statewide Purdue Extension effort led by agricultural engineer Don Jones and animal scientist Al Sutton -- an effort that last spring helped 1,200 livestock producers develop revised plans and complete their paperwork. Indiana's Confined Feeding Control Law, passed in 1971, requires that livestock farmers with more than 600 hogs, 300 cattle or 30,000 poultry file a confined feeding approval application. When the legislature modified the law in 1997, it required farmers with approved livestock operations to develop and file manure management plans with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) by July 1, 2000. Management plans must be revised and resubmitted every five years afterward. The plans helps protect the state's water supplies, but the forms can be tough to understand and fill out. "When I sit down to help a producer, it takes me two to three hours to explain and fill out the paperwork," Peter said. Each plan must include such things as a detailed description of manure storage facilities; a set of engineering drawings for buildings and earthen lagoons; soil and topographic maps of the farm showing where manure will be spread; and a farmstead map that shows every feature within a 300-foot radius, including water wells, streams, waterways, ponds, public roads, property lines, drainage tiles and neighbors' houses. With Peter's help, farmers have gotten a good return for the time they've spent doing paperwork. As they fill out forms, Peter takes the opportunity to help them think of manure as a resource, not a waste. He shows them how to keep manure out of water supplies while using it to replace commercial fertilizer. "I talked with Jim about using chicken manure instead of commercial fertilizer," said farmer Mike Schmett. "It cost me about $35 per acre, but I only need to put it on about once every five years. I was paying $30 per year for commercial fertilizer." On the 340 acres where Schmett used chicken manure, the change will save him about $39,000 over five years. Another Dubois County producer, Pat Lueken, said: "Jim got me started on manure management plans. I don't buy commercial fertilizer anymore. I estimate that I save $5,000 to $10,000 a year in fertilizer costs." In all, Peter has made more than 100 farm visits and has helped hundreds of farmers who called or came to his office for help with confined feeding applications and manure management plans. He also helped train Extension educators in other counties so that they could do the same. Indiana farmers who want help in manure management planning or in filling out Confined Feeding Control forms should contact the Purdue Extension office in their county. For more information on livestock waste management and copies of the IDEM forms, visit the Purdue Pork Manure Management page. For more information about the Confined Feeding Control law, visit the IDEM site.
Sources: Jim Peter, (812) 482-3301, james.peter@ces.purdue.edu Pat Lueken, (812) 326-2010 Mike Schmett, (812) 683-2940 Don Jones, (765) 494-1178, jonesd@ecn.purdue.edu Al Sutton, (765) 494-8012, asutton@ansc.purdue.edu Writer: Rebecca J. Goetz, (765) 494-0461, rjg@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
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