Manure management mission

Steve Wiedemann works in manure management, so you can imagine the jokes he has to endure. But it doesn't worry him as long as manure is being managed sustainably.

Steve, a consultant with FSA Consulting in Queensland, will be helping Condamine Alliance with their manure management mission, which aims to enhance markets for manure and other recycled organic materials.

"In an earlier project we examined ideas for marketing manure and looked at problems with sustainable reuse," Steve said.

"This project looks at using manure and other recycled organics in a sustainable manner. The focus is on providing information to people using recycled organics, as well as to high risk industries which produce liquid effluent."

Funding

The Australian and State Governments provided $67,000 to investigate effective manure management techniques in the Condamine Alliance region.

Activities

Steve said the project will produce fact sheets, hold workshops and provide demonstration sites, together with providing incentives for practical changes.

The ultimate goal is to improve understanding of the issues, together with sustainable recycled organic management practices in the region, by 25 per cent.

"We measure this by comparing farmer survey responses from when we started the research, with how farmers intend to use recycled organics after attending the workshops," Steve said.

The Alliance covers one of the most intensive agricultural areas in Australia, which includes about 125 feedlots with around 270,000 head of cattle.

Some of these feedlots hold more than 10,000 head of cattle, producing 7,000 to 8,000 tonnes or more of manure per year.

"One of the big issues here are the nutrient loads," Steve said. "If manure isn't spread at the right rate and the right time, nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen could get into river systems where it can cause problems like blue/green algae."

This can be a problem with both solid recycled organics like manure, and liquid effluent.

"The best idea is to apply the right amount of nutrients for plant growth as this will be more sustainable over time," Steve said. "This is one of the main messages we hope to provide to farmers through the project."

More information

• Steve Wiedemann, FSA Consulting: (07) 4632 8230

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

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Caring for our Country is an Australian Government initiative jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts