It takes a lot of time to write good plans, and many farmers are getting plans that would be impossible to implement, he explained. The plans are required if farmers apply for cost-sharing to build manure storage facilities, which work in conjunction with the plans to protect water quality. But Frame estimates at least two-thirds of the plans that have been written for Trempealeau County farmers can t be implemented. If the standards were enforced, people would be involuntarily out of compliance. We need to do a ton of education, Frame said.
People have to re-evaluate the way they use manure.
I think more agents are going to have to start writing plans and teaching farmers how to write their own plans. In this part of the state, we need more funding for manure storage facilities. Frame insists that the first step is to get people to see why it is important. We need to teach people to figure out how much manure they are spreading and balance that against the needs of the crop and what they get back in yield. Then we need to set up some kind of exchange so farmers who have too much manure can contract with people who need it.