Summary
Good stewardship is important for everyone, including small- scale farmers. Using best management practices can protect the environment. These practices can also improve the health and well-being of your animals and increase your farm’s profits. The first step is to evaluate your farm. By adopting management practices suited to it, you can protect your investments as well as the environment.
Intoduction
Small-scale farms make up 94% of the farms in the United States. They contribute significantly to the nation’s food supply and to local economies. They strengthen rural communities and contribute to a diverse and pleasing rural landscape.
Exceeding $100 billion annually, animals and animal products account for the majority of U.S. agricultural products. However, livestock and poultry farms, regardless of size, are facing increasing attention about the way they affect the environment. Many factors can affect a farm’s
impact on the environment. These factors include the animal type (kind), size, and number; the distance to water; the soil type; the weather; and the distance to neighbors. They will be discussed in the section titled “What to Consider When Evaluating Your Farm.”
Good Stewardship
Good environmental stewardship means using land and animals in a way that protects and improves the environment. Environ- mental stewardship begins by evaluating your farm to
identify likely pollution sources and their possible effect on the surrounding environment. The Small Farms Environmental Stewardship Check List on page 10 can serve as a starting point.
Overgrazing pastures; applying too much manure; giving animals free access to streams, ponds, wetlands, or marshes; mismanaging manure; and allowing excessive erosion can reduce water quality.
Possible Pollutants and Nuisances on Animal Farms
The following seven pollutants and/or nuisances are commonly found on small farms: manure, eroded soil, bacteria, odor, ammonia, dust, flies, and rodents.
Manure
Properly managed manure:
- Contains nutrients, or beneficial material, that improves the
- Provides plant nutrients for growing
- Can supplement or replace
- Can be sold as a farm product if properly treated (Figure 1).
- Can be used as fertilizer to recycle carbon in the soil and reduce carbon in the
If not managed well, manure can lead to fly and odor problems. If rain washes manure into nearby streams or wells, the nitrogen and phosphorus found in manure can cause poor water quality. For more information, see the Small Farms fact sheet titled “Manure on Your Farm: Asset or Liability?”
Eroded soil
When grass is not main- tained on pastures, eroded soil can wash into streams and ponds. Soil can also be washed from crop fields that are not protected with erosion control practices.
Bacteria
Disease-causing bacteria found in manure and dead animals can enter streams, ponds, and wells.
Odor
Poorly managed animal barns, stored manure, manure- spread fields, or poorly managed pastures can cause odor.
Ammonia
Ammonia nitrogen, a gas, is released from manure. At high levels, ammonia can cause animal and human health conditions. Even at low levels, ammonia can affect both animals and humans. Rainfall can return ammonia nitrogen to the earth where it can cause poor water quality.
Ammonia nitrogen gas from manure can affect both animals and humans.
Dust
Small dust particles in the air can bother humans and animals and be a nuisance when they settle. They can also cause health conditions when they are present in high amounts and for a long time.
Flies
Besides being a nuisance, flies can transmit diseases.
Rodents
Rodents like rats and mice can transfer diseases to other areas of the farm or nearby properties.
What to Consider When Evaluating Your Farm
As farmers evaluate their farm, they should consider:
- Animal type, size, and number
- Distance to water
- Soil type
- Weather
- Distance to neighbors
Animal type, size, and number
The type, size, and numbers of animals affect the amount of management required for your farm.
Overstocking causes most of the water quality damage on small-scale livestock farms. It occurs when too many animals
are kept on too few acres. Over- stocking can strip areas of pasture, increasing polluted runoff (Figure 2). On farms where animals are confined
and manure is collected, over- stocking often leads to large
amounts of manure that must be managed.
Keeping too many animals on too few acres causes most of the water quality damage on small- scale livestock farms.
The choice of management practices can affect how many animals the farm will support. Experienced farmers, exten- sion agents, and conservation district personnel can help farmers estimate the number of animals that they can keep
on a small farm while also protecting the environment, improving animal growth, and increasing farm profits.
Distance to water
Farm animals should not be able to enter streams or rivers (Figure 3). In most cases, even ponds should be fenced off (Figure 4) and a tank used to water the animals.
Grass strips, or buffers, should be present between fields where manure is applied. Grass buffers should also be used around streams and ponds to filter the soil washed from fields (Figure 5).
In areas where the water table is close to the surface, farmers must ensure that polluted water does not seep into water wells used for humans or animals.
Soil type
Sandy or gravelly soils do not absorb water well.
Pesticides, fertilizer, and manure can easily filter through the soil to wells and to streams and ponds.
Clay soils absorb water slowly, so fertilizers and pesticides can wash off of fields during heavy rains.
Pesticides, fertilizer, and manure can easily filter through sandy soil and wash off clay soil.
Loamy soils filter out pollution and absorb water well. Generally, very little soil washes directly or filters into water wells. Hilly pastures often erode and lose soil and fertilizers.
Weather
High rainfall increases the chance that pollutants will enter nearby water sources. During rainy seasons, take steps to prevent pollutants from wash- ing into nearby ponds or streams or seeping into wells.
Distance to neighbors
If neighbors live close to the farm, take steps to reduce nuisances like odor, dust, and flies.
Best Management Practices (BMPs)
In general, BMPs are management practices or procedures that protect the environment and maintain or improve the farm’s profits. To be most effective, BMPs should be used for a long time, thus maintaining the farm’s value.
Best Management Practices are management practices that protect the environment and maintain the farm's profits.
The advantages of BMPs include their variety, complete- ness, easy implementation, and flexibility. BMPs range from making simple changes to building structures that hold manure. They can be compre- hensive and consider how the
Plant grass buffers to filter runoff from barns, pastures or cropland, and manure storage areas.
Animal deaths
Manage dead animals by following local rules and regulations. Choices for managing animal deaths include burial, incineration, composting, and rendering. Dead animals should be taken care of promptly to reduce the risk of disease, rodents, odor, or water pollution. For more information, see the Small Farms fact sheet titled “Managing Animal Deaths: Your Options.”
Access to drinking water
To reduce soil erosion, tanks containing drinking water should be located in areas where the ground is stable and grass will filter runoff from the drinking areas before it enters nearby water sources (Figure 6). If farm animals must be
given access to streams or ponds to obtain water, the access should be limited to areas where the banks have been reinforced.
The Next Step
To become a more responsible steward of your land, learn about, plan for, and carry out BMPs. For help and infor- mation, contact your Cooperative Extension office, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services office, or Soil and Water Conservation District office. Local numbers for these agencies are in phone directories; look under your County Government or United States Government, Agriculture Department.
Points to Remember
- Small farms are an important part of American agriculture.
- Properly managed manure can reduce the need to purchase
- The use of Best Manage- ment Practices can pro- tect the environment and help protect your farming
Small Farms Environmental Stewardship Check List
As the steward of your farm, are you aware of and do you use environmentally sound practices?
Read each question and check the appropriate box.
Author
Mark Rice, Extension Specialist, North Carolina State University, can be reached at 919-515-6794 or mark_rice@ncsu.edu.
Project Manager
The author wishes to thank Diane Huntrods, the LPES Project Manager, at MWPS, Iowa State University, for editing this fact sheet and coordinating its completion.
Reviewers
The author wishes to thank Marion Simon, Kentucky State University, and Peter Wright, Cornell University, for their review of this fact sheet.
For More Information
Educational Resources
http://www.lpes.org/–To view the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship (LPES) curriculum resources
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/kles/–To view the Kansas Livestock Environmental Stewardship Online Assessments.
http://www.reeusda.gov/1700/statepartners/usa.htm/–To obtain state Cooperative Extension contacts
Environmental Regulations Resources
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/afo/statecontacts/–To obtain state environmental agency contact
Small Farm Resources
1-800-583-3071–USDA-CSREES Small Farm hotline
State-Specific Resources
The local contact for your land-grant university Cooperative Extension program is listed in the phone book under “Cooperative Extension” or “(county name) County Cooperative Extension.