The program was funded by Arizona Department of Environmental Quality through the Clean Water Act.
Manure spreading is a common method of adding organic matter to agricultural land.
However, there are problems associated with it, including increased weeds and pathogens, high moisture content requiring many loads to be spread, and quickly released nutrients which lead to possible contamination of surface and ground water. Manure, combined with carbonaceous material and allowed to decompose to a stable humus product, is called compost. The compost process kills weed seeds and pathogens, stabilizes nutrients, reduces the amount of trips needed for field application, and increases the benefits to soil structure. Arizona has had little research on the incorporation of compost in the soil for use in large scale agriculture. Most research has focused on applications of animal manure or sewage sludge.