(Nutrient Management Technical Note No. 1, October 2003)
1
Ecological
Sciences
Divison
October 2003
Nutrient Management Technical Note No. 1
Effects of Diet and
Feeding Management
on Nutrient Content
of Manure
Introduction
Accumulation of excess nutrients on the farm results in a whole-farm nutri-
ent imbalance that can contribute to water and air pollution. A major por-
tion of nutrients brought onto livestock and poultry farms comes from
purchased feeds. Reducing nutrients or selecting more efficient feed nutri-
ent sources and/or feeding techniques can significantly reduce the nutrient
content of excreted manure (helping to achieve a whole farm nutrient
balance), and help to reduce odors and other gaseous emissions from
manure.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency (EPA) released Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding
Operations in March 1999. Importantly, the Strategy articulated a national
performance expectation that all animal feeding operations should develop
and implement technically sound, economically feasible, and site-specific
comprehensive nutrient management plans (CNMPs) to minimize potential
adverse impacts on water quality and public health. Feed management is
one component of a CNMP.
Proper management of animal diets is a valuable tool to help balance nutri-
ent flows, to achieve a whole-farm nutrient balance, and to reduce the
potential negative impacts some nutrients have on the environment.
This technical note describes a series of basic nutrition and feeding man-
agement principles and potential adjustments that can be made on livestock
and poultry operations to reduce nutrient excretions. This technical note
was prepared from material published by the Federation of Animal Science
Societies (FASS), Savoy, Illinois (fass@assochg.org). Additional technical
notes provide specific feeding management and nutrient excretion informa-
tion for beef, dairy, poultry, and swine. These technical notes are not in-
tended to be all-inclusive. Farmers or