They soil tested and usually only used enough fertilizer to have a positive return on investment. Michigan law required the farmers with livestock to file a plan where the manure could be safely spread. I helped the farmers write some of those plans and could verify they were sound.
You know who didn't soil test, over fertilized and overwatered? That's right he home owners and their lawns. I am happy to report that the State and our universities are just beginning to recognize that the largest contributors to our water pollution problem are the home owners. I am waiting to see the State starting to do an educational campaign on TV but it hasn't happened yet.
Mandatory Güllenachweisfläche in Germany. Apparently there is a surplus, otherwise it shouldn't be possible for farmers from the Netherlands to spread theirs over North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , mostly. Surplus aside, the groundwater of these regions is often above the legal limits for nitrates. Necessitating mixins with water from cleaner 'islands' further away to dilute. Either via fixed pipelines, or truck. Seems crazy to me.
toomuchtodo•4mo ago
_wire_•4mo ago
_wire_•4mo ago