Contacts:
Wendy Houston-Anderson, Agency of Agriculture, (802) 828-3475

Friday, November 16, 2007

Under Vermont's Accepted Agricultural Practices (AAPs) regulations, agricultural operations are not allowed to spread manure from December 15th to April 1st. This means that you must either have a storage structure that is capable of holding all manure produced on your operation over the period of the ban, which is 107 days, or you must be able to stack all manure produced in a way that will not lead to water quality impacts.

When stacking manure, AAPs require that stacking sites be located more than 100 feet from private wells or property boundaries. In addition, manure cannot be stacked on unimproved sites within 100 feet of surface water, or on land that is subject to annual overflow from adjacent waters. In all these situations, however, you have the opportunity to demonstrate to the Secretary of Agriculture that no alternative sites exist to enable you to meet these restrictions.

If you do have a storage structure, please make every attempt to empty the structure as soon as possible so you will have sufficient storage to make it through the ban.

If you have any questions about the manure storage ban, or if you would like assistance in the selection of appropriate manure stacking sites, please call the Agency at (802) 828-3475.

Requesting a Manure Spreading Ban Exemption

Under Vermont=s Accepted Agricultural Practices (AAPs) regulations, manure spreading ban exemptions are available to farmers that are experiencing an emergency situation and find themselves with less than sufficient manure storage to make it through the manure spreading ban (107 days). Emergency situations can include the structural failure of a manure storage system or other specific management needs.

If you find yourself in this situation, please call the Agency of Agriculture at (802) 828-3475 as soon as possible. We will send an Agricultural Resource Specialist or Field Agent out to meet with you and discuss your situation. Information will be collected from you in order to determine how much manure your operation produces on a daily basis, how much, if any, surface runoff (rain fall or snow melt) may be entering your pit, what land base you have available for spreading, and the proximity of water resources to your operation. If the Agency determines that an emergency situation exists and you have no alternatives for the management of your manure, an exemption will be issued for your operation. The exemption will specify the amount of manure to be spread, the fields suitable for manure application, and the dates during which you will be allowed to spread. Fields will be selected that have the least likelihood of generating runoff to surface waters.

Exemptions are not intended to allow for continued daily spreading for the duration of the ban, but are designed to allow for the application of the required amount of manure over a period of 3 to 5 days. If you have any questions regarding the manure spreading ban exemption process, please call the Agency at (802) 828-3475.