NRCS Practice Standard: Amendments for Treatment of Agricultural Waste (591)

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NRCS Practice Standard: Amendments for Treatment of Agricultural Waste (591)

About the Company:

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s primary private lands conservation agency. The NRCS helps producers protect and conserve natural resources on private lands through voluntary conservation programs. Through Practice Standards and technical guides, the NRCS provides information about the conservation, energy resources, and provides personalized advice to individual producers.

The NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides technical and financial assistance to producers as they implement NRCS Conservation Practice Standards.

Technical guides used in each field office are localized so that they apply specifically to the geographic area for which they are prepared. Thus, while national guidelines have been provided as a framework for each standard, each state has adopted and modified the conservation practice standards to suit their individual landscape.

To find a local NRCS Service center click here.

To find the specific guideline for each state click here.

About the Solution:

Amendments for Treatment of Agricultural Waste (591)

The addition of chemical or biological additives to manure, process wastewater, contaminated storm water runoff, or other wastes to reduce adverse effects on air and/or water.

Practice Information

The purpose of this practice is to change the characteristics of the waste stream to facilitate waste handling and improve or protect air or water resources or animal health. The additives covered by this practice are commonly used for phosphorus binding, ammonia suppression, odor control, and solids separation enhancement.

The amendments are to be used in the implementation of a planned waste management system. The use of amendments can have ancillary production benefits for crops and livestock.

When handling chemicals or biological amendments you will need to follow all of the safety precautions recommended by the manufacturer.

There will also be a requirement for recordkeeping in sufficient detail to describe the amendment’s use, actual application rates and timing, and any tests performed (including nutrient analysis).

Common Associated Practices

NRCS Conservation Practice Standard (CPS) Amendments for the Treatment of Agricultural Waste (Code 591) is commonly applied with other conservation practices such as:

  • Agrichemical Handling Facility (Code 309)
  • Waste Transfer (Code 634)
  • Nutrient Management (Code 590)
  • Waste Separation Facility (Code 632)
  • Waste Storage Facility (Code 313)
  • Waste Treatment (Code 629)
  • Waste Treatment Lagoon (Code 359)


  • To view the national NRCS standard for Amendments for the Treatment of Agricultural Waste please click here.

    Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC United States 1-833-ONE-USDA Visit Company Website

    Solution Type

    • Additive

    Vendor

    • Others

    Product

    • Other

    Problem

    • Nitrogen
    • Odor

    To view additional information about this vendor, click below.

    Solution Strengths, Weaknesses and Critical Indicators

    Additives generally fall into two categories, feed additives and manure additives.

    Feed additives are generally used to:

  • Increase production
  • Decrease greenhouse gas emissions
  • Manure additives are generally used to:

  • Disrupt the breakdown of manure
  • Reduce foaming
  • Physical and Biochemical Stabilization
  • Newtrient Comments/Opinions:

    Newtrient is using the USDA-NRCS conservation practice standards as tools to assist dairy producers in understanding the standards and how they can be used to address resources concerns.

    To establish a Practice Standard a system or practice must be thoroughly vetted, approved, and standardized by the USDA at the federal and state level. These conservation practices have been developed to address various environmental resource concerns. Newtrient has developed a 9-point scoring process for ranking additives, practices, services, and technologies for the dairy industry. Recognizing the rigorous approval procedure used during the development of the NRCS Practice Standards, many of them score very highly and are worthy of consideration on any dairy where they apply.

    The information provided here is a summary of the selected conservation practices. For up to date and detailed information related to the full Practice Standards, please see the USDA NRCS website, linked above.

    Newtrient 9-Point Scoring Rating

    View the Scoring Page

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