Eastern CT RC&D Area, Inc. Nutrient Management

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is developing a General Permit for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in order to regulate manure management activities currently practiced on Connecticut Animal Feeding Operations (AFOs). The General Permit specifically regulates Connecticut AFOs with a larger number of animals, defined by the permit as CAFOs. In the Technical Report on the Impact of General Permit on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in Connecticut prepared for the Connecticut DEP and issued in March 2003, dairy and poultry manures were identified as contributing to a nutrient surplus in Connecticut. Land application is the most common agricultural manure management method for dairy and poultry manure. Due to the present loss of farmland in Connecticut, there is no longer sufficient land available under the control of the farms for agronomic application rates. The proposed DEP General Permit has provisions that will limit land application to agronomic rates and that could limit the amount of manure which is land applied on CAFO farms. In order to maintain current production rates, and thus manure production rates, development of feasible manure management alternatives are essential for the survival of the farms directly affected by the DEP General Permit.

To meet the proposed agronomic application rates for manure application, the surplus nutrients must be economically treated and moved off-farm for utilization in other market sectors. In 2005 the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection received a Feasibility Study for Alternative Technologies and Utilization for Managing Dairy and Poultry Manure. The commissioned report was prepared by Wright -Pierce with funding in part by the CT DEP through a US EPA Clean Water Act Section 319 nonpoint source grant. This report evaluated a variety of alternatives that would address the current State nutrient surplus. The ultimate goal of the project was to identify economically and technically feasible manure management methods for the dairy and poultry industry that would effectively manage surplus nutrients produced by CAFOs located throughout the State of Connecticut.

After the results of the Feasibility Study for Alternative Technologies and Utilization for Managing Dairy and Poultry Manure in Connecticut Eastern CT RC&D Area partnered with local farmers in two of the four targeted areas of high animal density. By working alongside the farmers the Eastern CT RC&D Area was able to apply for 319 grants to get nutrient management feasibility studies done in these two areas. The first report was completed in August 2006 for North Canaan, and the second report was completed in July 2007 for Woodstock.

The Eastern CT RC&D Area continues to work and partner with Connecticut's farmers to accomplish this goal. Part of that goal can be furthered with the creation of the Connecticut Nutrient Management Website. This website has been setup in partnership with the Connecticut DEP and the EPA to help inform and keep information available and updated for farmers and those with a vested interest in Nutrient Management in the State of Connecticut. We hope you take this time to explore the website and learn more about the exciting potential these studies hold for the future landscape of Connecticut.

Density of Dairy Animals in Connecticut Map