AMES, Iowa -- A recent field day at a Story County feedlot drew a crowd of more than 300 livestock producers, industry representatives and dignitaries. The field day showcased ‘alternative technologies’ for runoff management, and included attendees from all parts of Iowa and several other states, including Minnesota, Illinois, South Dakota and Kansas.
With ethanol plants and the resulting co-products increasing all over Iowa, interest is strong in expanding the cattle feeding industry in the state. However, “with tight profit margins and environmental regulations, growing a feedlot operation in Iowa might not seem to be an option,” says Kapil Arora, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension agricultural and biosystems engineer.
The June 16 field day gave producers the opportunity to visit and learn from Bill Couser and ISU Extension specialists who illustrated how Couser Cattle Company has used alternative technologies for runoff management to meet Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements.
Couser is an enterprising Story County producer who worked with ISU, DNR and EPA to develop ‘alternative technology’ systems to meet environmental requirements and manage his operation. Improvements and additions to his Nevada farm include vegetative infiltration basins, vegetative treatment areas and solids settling basins, instead of a conventional effluent basin to manage runoff .These changes allowed him to expand the feedlot from 800 to 2,200 head.
The field day highlighted an array of speakers including Couser, ISU specialists, and state personnel, including Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge. The agenda included presentations on the background of alternative technologies, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements, system design and costs, resources available to producers, feed ration and manure nutrient content and an overview of the ongoing research and monitoring requirements.
This alternative technology system and several others around the state are being monitored by ISU to measure the effectiveness of the system in managing nutrients in feedlot runoff, according to Russ Euken, ISU Extension livestock specialist. “Although the monitored systems are being used at feedlots with more than 1,000 head capacity to meet environmental regulations, smaller feedlots may be interested in using a similar system to manage nutrients in their feedlot”, says Euken.
The field day was sponsored by ISU Extension and the Iowa Beef Center. There are field days planned for other alternative technology (AT) sites, including Aug. 1 at the Fluit Feedlot (Inwood) and Rolling Hills Feedlot (Hawarden), and Aug. 29 at the Corey feedlot near Lytton. Field days will be scheduled for the remaining AT sites in the coming weeks.
For more information about alternative technologies, contact Kapil Arora at (515) 382-6551 or Russ Euken at (641) 923-2856. For more information about the Alternative Technologies field day or other Iowa Beef Center events, visit the Calendar page at www.iowabeefcenter.org.
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Rachel E. Martin, Iowa Beef Center, (515) 294-9124, remartin@iastate.edu