May 1999
Who's Who - Iowa Law Defines Two Types of Manure Applicators
by Tracy Peterson, extension communications
Which category do you fit--commercial applicator or confinement site applicator? Iowa law defines the two types of manure applicators:
- A commercial manure applicator is a person who engages in the business of and charges a fee for applying manure on the land of another person.
- A confinement site manure applicator is a person who applies manure stored at a confinement site other than a commercial applicator. Full-time employees of confinement feeding operations whose primary responsibility is manure application fall under this definition as do individual livestock producers.
A confinement feeding operation is defined as one where animals are confined to totally roofed areas. According to the legal definition, such operations must exceed animal weight capacity of 200,000 pounds (about 1,333 market hogs) for animals other than bovine, and exceed 400,000 pounds for bovine animals to require certification.
Production systems, under roof, with the average capacity production numbers listed below meet the definition of confinement site operations that must be certified for land application of manure.
Table 1. Facility production capacity for filing manure plans.
| Facility weight capacity for swine. | ||||
| Average Capacity | Sows (400 lbs.) | Nursery (25 lbs.) | Market Hogs (150 lbs.) | Farrow to Finish (10 pigs per litter) |
| 200,000 lbs. | 500 | 8,000 | 1,333 | 105 |
| Facility weight capacity for poultry. | |||
| Average Capacity | Laying Hens (4 lbs.) | Broiler (2 lbs.) | Turkey (10 lbs.) |
| 200,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 20,000 |
| Facility weight capacity for bovine. | |||
| Average Capacity | Slaughter Cattle (750 lbs.) | Feeder Cattle (625 lbs.) | Dairy (1,500 lbs.) |
| 400,000 | 533 | 640 | 267 |
