The benefits of liquid manure drip irrigation are attracting considerable interest within the dairy industry. Sustainable Conservation and Netafim have worked to create a system for filtering liquid manure before being applied through drip irrigation. The project was developed with dairy farmers who wanted better water use efficiency while still using manure as fertilizer. Approximately 25 dairy producers in the Central Valley have signed up to begin using the system, with dairies in other states showing significant interest as well.
“The yields are the same or better and the environmental benefits are significant in that it saves up to 40 percent of the water that the farm was using. It is much more nitrogen use efficient, so there’s a lot less leeching of nitrates to groundwater,” said Ashley Boren, CEO of Sustainable Conservation. “It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions I think by up to 90 percent that are related to irrigation. So, it’s a huge win-win-win.”
Listen to the radio report below.
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