It is the policy of the University of Maryland, Agricultural Experiment Station and Maryland Cooperative Extension, that no person shall be subjected to discrimination on the grounds of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital or parental status, or disability. Jim Lewis, Ag Agent University of Maryland Cooperative Extension

Manure is a good fertilizer source... BUT you can’t simply spread it haphazardly!

 Streaks of thick/thin manure  Green streaks of crop or weeds  If different amounts in catch pans/trays/cloth, then adjust swath widths or gate openings and speed.

 PTO Drive  1/2 speed = 2 X rate  1/3 speed = 3 X rate *can calibrate and extrapolate  Gate Opening  1/2 gate opening = 1/2 X rate  1/3 gate opening = 1/3 X rate *need to calibrate every gate opening or rate

1. When manure source changes 2. Different poultry farm 3. Crust vs. clean out 4. Building vs. outside 5. Piles subjected to different weather 6. Different years 7. All of the above

 Measure the load and area covered and calculate rate/acre  Adjust gate or speed  Repeat

 Load and weigh on scale  Find volume of spreader  From dealer  Measure cubic feet of spreader

Have cubic feet  Five gallon bucket, 2/3 cubic foot  Fill bucket with manure and weigh, repeat, repeat  Average bucket weight – empty weight = 5 gallon manure weight  Manure X 3 2 = weight/cubic foot....

Example: Empty bucket weight 2 lbs. 1 st time...24 – 2 = 22 lbs. 2 nd time...20 – 2 = 18 lbs. 3 rd time...22 – 2 = 20 lbs. 60 lbs. /3 = 20 lbs. 20 X 3 = 60 2 = 30 lbs. per cubic foot.... manure in 5 gallon bucket

, tons/acre

Put something on ground and spread over it to collect and weigh manure >pans >cloth Put pans or cloth different distances from both sides of spreader

10 – 12” X 24” serving trays = 20 sq ft. or 3 – 5’ X 6’ bed sheet = 90 sq ft Weigh manure collected and calculate tons/acre

10 aluminum pans of manure weighs 2.5 lbs. 2.5 lbs. / 20 sq ft =.125 lbs. /sq ft.125 lbs. / sq ft X 43,560 sq ft/acre = 5,445 lbs. /acre = 2.72 ton/acre

Dry Manure Liquid Manure

10 – 12” X 24” serving trays = 20 sq ft or 3 – 5’ X 6’ bed sheet = 90 sq ft Weigh manure collected and calculate tons/acre

3 bed sheets of manure weigh 10 lbs. 10 lbs. /90 sq ft =.111 lbs. /sq ft.111 lbs. /sq ft X 43,560 sq ft/acre = 4,835 lbs. /acre = 2.4 ton/acre

Dry Manure Liquid Manure 3 90

Wheel – 1 revolution = 15 ft. 8 row/30” planter Collected 10 fl. oz. or Collected 3 lbs. dry fertilizer

X 30”