1. Nutrient Management:
-Education, On-farm Research, Training-
Presented by:
 Dennis Frame
Discovery Farms Program
 Kevin Erb
Environmental Resources Center
 Scott Sturgul
Nutrient & Pest Mgmt. Program
UWEX Conference – October 19, 2010

2. Nutrient Management
Combine on-farm nutrient sources, with
commercial fertilizer, to meet crop need.
On-farm nutrient sources
(manure, legumes, soil
reserves)
Commercial fertilizer
Minimize nutrient losses

3. Nutrient Management Planning in Wisconsin
University
Soil Fertility & Water Quality Research
Agricultural & Natural Resource
Protection Agencies
Water Quality Protection
Education & Demonstration Regulation
Nutrient Management
Standard - 590
Implementation on Wisconsin Farms
Private Industry, Conservation and Extension staff

4. Today’s Topics
Coordinated Wisconsin response to
nutrient management education &
implementation
The Nutrient Management Farmer
Education curriculum
Discovery Farms on-farm
research/monitoring findings
Conservation technology transfer training
Custom Manure Haulers

5. Legislative Action,
Incentives,
Multi-agency work plans & goals,
UWEX response

6. State of Wisconsin’s NM
Initiative & Funding
2008 revision of ATCP 50
Cost-share for NM planning up to $6.5M/yr
Up to $650K/yr to UW-CALS, UWEX for
educational support
• SNAP-Plus software
• Farmer outreach & education
• MALWEG grants for farmer training
• Evaluation
Coordinated joint UW & UWEX proposal

7. The Best of Intentions, but ...
$6M/yr for NM c/s reduced to ~$519K/yr
$650K for educational support reduced to
~$458K/yr
• SNAP-Plus (UW-Madison-Soils) [$169K]
• UW Education support (NPM, DF) [$192K]
• MALWEG grants & evaluation (ERC) [$97K]
• Technical Colleges support [$60K]

8. UW & UWEX
Accomplishments

9. SNAP-Plus
Intent: “Maintain & improve the SNAP-Plus
software program”
Products:
• Expanded research base
• Updated predictive models
• New reporting capabilities
• Training, technical support, and maintenance
www.snapplus.net

10. Farmer Training Grants
Intent: “Facilitate farmer training through
grants & other support”
Products: MALWEG grants to counties
• Farmer stipends & instructor support
• 2008/09: 15 grants (18 counties)
• 2009/10: 11 grants (14 counties)
Evaluation
• Data collected from NMFEC instructors
• Broader, large-scale evaluations – a work in progress

11. Education Support for NM
Intent: “Expand & support NM planning
through education, outreach, and project
implementation”
Participants: DF, NPM, NM Team, Agents,
LCDs, Tech Colleges
Products
• Delivery & maintenance of the NMFEC
• NM publications
• NM training & outreach to many audiences.

12. Nutrient Management Farmer
Education Program - Curriculum
 Based on UW soil fertility
recommendations and current
nut. mgmt. regulations.
 Delivered locally by UWEX,
LCD, NRCS, technical colleges,
private industry.
 Workshops, on-farm
demonstration, etc. with end
product being functional
nutrient management plans.
 Majority of plans prepared by
farmers themselves.

13. Development of the NMFEC
 Developed & piloted by Dennis Frame & Paul Kivlin
 Refined and mass produced by:
• Soils faculty, NPM Program, Discovery Farms, UWEX NM-SDT
 UWEX-CNRED-ERC contributions:
• County-level funding for implementation via MALWEG grants
• Evaluation tool
 1999 initial release - with 5 subsequent updates
 Financial supporters of project:
• WMMB WDATCP* NRCS
• Wis. Farm Bureau UWEX-ERC
*Statutorily endorsed as mechanism for certifying farmers to write NM plans

14. Intent & Purpose
 To develop NM plans that are implemented.
 To teach producers basic nutrient management
principles and practices for protecting water
quality and farm profits.
 To involve farmers in the development of their
own NM plans.
 To assist farmers in complying with regulations.

15. Collaborative Accomplishments
- NMFEC Programming -

16. Collaborative Accomplishments
- NMFEC Programming -

17. Collaborative Accomplishments
- NMFEC Programming -

18. NMFE Curriculum Accomplishments
2000 – 2010
3,200+ producers participants
• Major enterprise = dairy
• ~ 80% developed or assisted in the
development of their NM plans
 ~ 977,500 acres planned*
 48+ Wisconsin counties

19. Nutrient Management Plan Acres
Reported by WDATCP: 1996-2010
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000
Acres
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

20. Other Accomplishments
Nutrient management training programs
• Training for NM Planners (TNMP) workshops
• NMFEC Train-the-Trainer workshops
• Other
NM publications
• Free of charge and free shipping
Support and expansion of NM educational
programming efforts.

21. Future Plans
Revision and re-issue of the Nutrient
Management Farmer Education
curriculum in 2010.
• AVAILABLE HERE & NOW!!
Continued support & utilization for local
delivery of nutrient management
education programs.