The Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project, Inc.

The Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project, Inc.

The Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project A Collaboration to Improve Dairy Farm Nutrient Balance Greg Weber, Project Coordinator, 2001-2003 Bill Jokela, Univ. of Vermont, Interim Coordinator, 2003-2005 Slide show created by Greg Weber; revised by Bill Jokela Photo credits: Bill Jokela

A Collaboration Involving: Ben & Jerry s St. Alban s Coop. Poulin Grain Bourdeau Bros. of Middlebury University of Vermont Extension 8 Dairy Farmers Funding from: Ben & Jerry s, NE SARE, The Ben & Jerry s and Windham Foundations.

Issues in Dairy Farm Sustainability Environmental Water quality impacts Surface water P in runoff, erosion Groundwater nitrate leaching Economic Farm profitability Milk price Production level Cost of production

Response Ben & Jerry s initiated an industry collaboration to investigate and document management practices that improve farm environmental and economic sustainability.

Unique Aspects of VDFSP Whole-farm nutrient approach Cows and feed Crops and soil Collaborative Private industry/public (university, Extension) Ag suppliers, consultants, processors Farmers Environmental and Economic Goals

Technical Goals of VDFSP More precisely match feed supply to cow requirements. Utilize CNCPS software to reduce overfeeding of N and P. More precisely match manure and fertilizer application to crop requirements. Use of CropMD software to match application to requirements. Use of Phosphorous Index to reduce risk of phosphorous run-off. More precisely match crops grown on farm to herd nutritional requirements and soil fertility.

Approach Baseline One year period to document N and P status of whole farm, feed and crop enterprises on 8 farms Nutrient Management Improvement Plan Opportunity identification, improvement plan development and implementation in collaboration with farmer, farm suppliers and advisors Implementation One year period to document impact of improvement implementations Educational Phase Dissemination of information to dairy industry concerning successful improvements for N and P efficiency and lessons learned

Feed Enterprise Periodic evaluation of diet N and P supply relative to requirement, by group (Use Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System v4.0.31 (CNCPS) software) Measured intake. Production level. Physiologic state. Work with feed suppliers, dairy nutritionists

Crop Enterprise Evaluation of N and P supply relative to crop requirement, by field ( Use VT CropMD or proprietary (NNYCMA) software.) Soil sampling and testing Manure analysis and management Fertilizer application Expected crop yield/crop management Evaluate P runoff potential with P Index Work with fertilizer suppliers and crop consultants.

Project success depended on farmer-cooperators, ag suppliers/consultants, and project staff working together for a common goal. Here project coordinator Greg Weber discusses management issues with a farmer and his crop consultant.

Whole Farm Imports Feed, Animals, Fertilizer, N Fixation. Exports Milk, Feed, Manure, Animals Whole-farm nutrient balance Refers to the proportion of imported nutrients that are converted to useable product or retained on the farm More nutrient retained means increased potential for loss to the environment via runoff or leaching

Farm Boundary Feed Fertilizer Conversion Efficiency Milk and Animals Fixed N Accumulation Farm Boundary

Where are the Opportunities? Look at Results for Baseline Year 8 Dairy Farms 80-300 milkers (1 heifer operation) Cropland: 130-900 acres Most legume-grass and corn silage One pasture-based 7 in VT, 1 in NY

Farm Boundary Diet Parameters CP, MP, NSC, Rumen N, P Feed Purchased Feed Total Intake Ration Nutrients Conversion Efficiency Nutrient Export In Milk + Animals Home Grown Ration Nutrients Nutrient Accumulation Manure Nutrients Soil Nutrients N Fixation Crop Nutrient Supply Conversion Efficiency Nutrient Allocation, Timing, Method, Crops Grown Total Crop Nutrients Crops Purchased Fertilizer Farm Boundary

Results Whole Farm Nutrient Conversion Efficiency Exported N or P, as percent of imported nutrient Feed Nutrient Conversion Efficiency Product (milk and tissue) as percent of intake. Crop Nutrient Status Applied crop available nutrient amount minus recommended application rate.

Whole-farm Phosphorus Import Baseline Year Phosphorus Imports 16 14 12 10 Bedding Livestock Fertillizer Purchased Feed Tons 8 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Farm On most farms purchased feed was the largest import of P; fertilizer was the largest on others

Whole-farm Phosphorus Export Baseline Year Phosphorus Exports 6 5 4 Manure Forages Livestock Milk Tons 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Farm Milk was the primary P export (except on heifer operation)

Whole-farm P Balance Baseline Year 100 90 80 70 Phosphorus Mass Balance % Retained % Converted Percent 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Farm Conversion efficiencies ranged from 20 to 50% (50 to 80% retained), except for a grazing-based farm with a large land base, which had a 75% conversion efficiency.

Whole-farm Nitrogen Balance Baseline Year 100 90 80 70 60 Nitrogen Mass Balance % Retained % Converted Tons 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Farm

How much N and P in feed?

Feed Characteristics Lactating Averages - Baseline Year Farm 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 Average Dietary Crude Protein % 17.7 17.3 18.4 17.4 17.2 18.3 18.3 17.8 Ruminal N Supply (% of req.) 129.5 121.4 143.0 144.8 126.4 150.4 129.7 135.0 MP N Supply (% of req.) 107.1 106.7 105.2 92.5 103.4 103.3 112.7 104.4 P Intake (% of req.) 111.0 111.6 124.0 127.3 116.4 99.7 120.5 115.8 Overfeeding of N and P lowers nutrient efficiency and increases manure nutrient content.

Manure Application Farm 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 Manure Rate, gal/acre 6956 7526 5122 6968 5188? 3646 % Acres Manured 63 94 81 94 83 77 62 Percent of Acreage Manured by Crop Corn silage 82% Legume-grass 68% Grass 76% Manure sampled and analyzed 1-3 x per farm

Phosphorus in manure can result in phosphorus in runoff.

Fertilizer Use: Phosphorus Commercial Fertilizer P Application lbs P2O5 Applied Crop Acres Total Per Acre Corn Silage 1289 78138 61 Legume-Grass Forage 2131 8120 4 Total 3420 86258 25 Most P fertilizer was applied to corn land, mainly as starter fertilizer.

Soil Test P Distribution % of acres 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% UVM Excessive UVM High UVM Optimum UVM Medium UVM Low 0% 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 Farm Soil test P distribution varied by farm Most farms had large acreage with low and/or high/excessive Soil soil test P P, distribution showing need varies for improved by farm; manure most and had fertilizer allocation.

Soil Test P and Animal Density Soil Test P vs AU/Acre STP: % High + Excess 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 Animal Units/ Acre With 2 exceptions, % of fields testing high or excessive increased with animal density.

Dissolved Runoff P vs Soil Test P 0.5 0.4 DRP = 0.0638 + 0.00519*STP R² = 0.701 Runoff DRP, mg/l 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Soil P, mg/kg (Mod. Morgan's) Other research in VT showed that dissolved P in runoff increases with increasing soil test P (Tilley et al.).

P Index by Field (3 Farms) P Index: Farm 1 P Index 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Field Determination of P Index on 3 farms showed a wide range, most low to medium, some high, and only 2 very high (apply no P).

P Index: Farm 2 P Index 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Field P Index: Farm 4 100 80 P Index 60 40 20 0 Field

PSNT for Corn on 6 Farms 140 120 100 NO3-N, ppm 80 60 40 20 0 1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 Field PSNT results showed many fields above the 25 ppm threshold (no more N needed) and many below (N recommended).

Crop Nutrient Applied - Recommended Baseline Year Nitrogen Available N, Applied - Recommended Phosphorus P2O5, Applied - Recommended 70 140 60 120 50 100 40 80 N, lb/acre 30 20 N, lb/acre 60 10 40 0-10 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 7 8-20 -20 Farm Farm Averaged across fields, most farms were applying more N and P than recommended in the baseline year, showing an opportunity for reduced nutrient loading and potential cost savings.

Starter Fertilizer Demo Demonstration trials on one of the cooperating farms showed an opportunity for decreased starter fertilizer rate with no effect on corn yield. (Project coordinator shown.)

What were the Impacts?

Feed Comparisons (Yr 2-Baseline) Farm 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 Avg + - Milk lbs/hd/day 3.07-5.29 2.65 5.70 2.05 0.25 1.00 1.35 6 1 MP supply (% of req.) 0.22 5.25 4.68 11.15 4.08 8.47 2.15 5.14 7 0 Rumen N Balance g/hd/day -14.11-2.29-34.32-51.62-3.34-42.43 2.45-20.81 1 6 Feed N Efficiency % 0.81-1.51 1.60 1.58-0.78 1.41-0.45 0.38 4 3 Feed P Efficiency % 6.30 2.81 10.22 6.37 4.65-0.85 7.39 5.27 6 1 Diet P % -0.06-0.04-0.11-0.10-0.06-0.01-0.09-0.07 0 7 P supply (% of req) -18.13-9.74-28.39-25.15-13.61 1.81-22.12-16.48 1 6 Most farms showed improvement in milk production and several feed parameters in the implementation year (Year 2) compared to the baseline year.

Change in Nutrients Applied Recomm: Year 2-Baseline # of Farms Farm 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 Avg + - N, lbs/a -10.0-1.2-12.0-10.7 26.7-34.7 27.1-2.1 2 5 P2O5, lbs/a 21.0-33.3 14.3-27.8-22.2-19.7-33.5-14.4 2 5 Five of seven farms reduced average N and P application rates to bring them closer to recommended rates.

Corn Starter Comparison Farm 8 Year 1 Year 2 Difference P2O5 lbs/acre 63.2 37.2 25.9 Cost/acre $40.20 $26.27 $13.93 For 2002 P2O5 Import Avoided (tons) 3.9 Savings $4,197 Farm 7 Year 1 Year 2 Difference P2O5 lbs/acre 106.4 59.6 46.8 Cost/acre $40.76 $28.83 $11.94 For 2002 P2O5 Import Avoided (tons) 9.3 Savings $4,765 Farm 2 Year 1 Year 2 Difference P2O5 lbs/acre 35.9 23.8 12.1 Prices used Cost/acre $20.64 $13.69 $6.96 10-20-20 $230/ton 7-27-27 $261/ton For 2002 10-40-10 $283/ton P2O5 Import Avoided (tons) 1.0 21-17-0 $240/ton Savings $1,151 19-19-0 $240/ton

Whole-farm Phosphorus Balance Change: Baseline to Year 2 Phosphorus Mass Balance % Retained Phosphorus Mass Balance - Year 2 % Retained 100 % Converted 100 % Converted 90 90 80 80 70 70 60 60 Percent 50 40 Percent 50 40 30 30 20 20 10 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Farm Farm

Change in Whole Farm Conversion Efficiency % (Year 2 minus Baseline) 40 Percentage Change 30 20 10 0-10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 N P -20 Whole-farm conversion efficiency improved on most farms for phosphorus (7 of 8) and nitrogen (5 of 8).

Opportunities Successes Corn Starter P Feed P Feed N Potentials Fertilizer N PSNT Cropping Strategy

Summary Implemented practices reduced: Fertilizer P rate and cost (3 of 7). Feed (rumen) N excess (6 of 7) Diet P excess (6 of 7). Impacts Excess crop N and P reduced (5 of 7). Lactating Feed Efficiency improved for N (4 of 7) and P (6 of 7). Whole Farm Efficiency improved for N (5 of 8) and P (7 of 8).

CONCLUSIONS Management tools that decrease excess nutrient supply improve net farm nutrient balance and profitability. Nutrient Conversion Efficiency and Balance are constrained by efficiency of biological processes and economics. Considerations in improving farm nutrient balance are farm information systems, quality control procedures and farm and supplier risk approach. Excess reduction requires accurate information, consistency and farm-supplier relationships capable of honestly assessing risk vs. gain. Farm P balances are more easily improved than N balances, partly due to increased risk of reduced performance with N. Nutrient accumulation depends more on management than on AU/acre.