1. Why BMPs Are
Important to Louisiana
Louisiana is blessed with beautiful and abundant
waters to enjoy fishing, hunting, boating or just relaxing
on the shore of a lake, river or bayou. Most of the water in
Louisiana’s rivers and lakes comes from rainfall runoff.
As this runoff travels across the soil surface, it carries
with it soil particles, organic matter and nutrients, such as
nitrogen and phosphorus. Agricultural activities contribute
to the amount of these materials entering streams, lakes,
estuaries and groundwater. In addition to ensuring an
abundant and affordable food supply, Louisiana farmers
must strive to protect the environment.
Research and educational programs on environmental
issues related to the use and management of natural
resources always have been an important part of the LSU
AgCenter’s mission. Working with representatives from
agricultural commodity groups and the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service,
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality,
Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation and Louisiana
Department of Agriculture and Forestry, the LSU
AgCenter has taken the lead in assembling a group of best
management practices, also known as BMPs, for each
agricultural commodity in Louisiana.
BMPs are practices used by agricultural producers to
control the generation and transmission of pollutants from
agricultural activities to water resources of the state. By
exercising such controls, producers thereby reduce the
amount of agricultural pollutants entering surface water
and groundwater. Each BMP is a culmination of years of
research and demonstrations conducted by agricultural
research scientists and soil engineers. A list of BMPs
and the accompanying standards and specifications are
published by the Natural Resources Conservation Service
in its Field Office Technical Guide.
1. Why BMPs Are Important to Louisiana. . . . . 2
2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
3. The Practical Side of BMPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4. Whole Farm Nutrient Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. Beef Management Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
6. Livestock Mortality Management. . . . . . . . . 15
7. Soil Testing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
8. Manure Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
9. Managing Water Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
10. Buffers and Field Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
11. Manure Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
12. Farmstead Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
13. Odor Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
14. Responding to Complaints. . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
15. Record Keeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
16. Pesticide Management and Pesticides . . . . .33
Importance of BMPs 2
Sustainable Best Management Practices for Beef Production -
BMPs
cow-calf herd becomes questionable, especially with
increasing feed, fuel and fertilizer costs. Therefore,
profitability and the rising cost of land are threats to
these producers.
Improving genetics, adapting to change and
continuing education are viewed as ways to
make improvements. Producers see a tremendous
opportunity to improve, but economics alone does
not affect their production management decisions.
Often, management practice decisions are based on
time limitations because many of these producers
have a different primary job either off or on the farm.
Therefore, the time these producers can devote to the
beef cow herd is limited.
Best management practices, or BMPs, have been
determined to be an effective and practical means of
reducing point and nonpoint-source water pollutants
at levels compatible with environmental quality
goals. The primary purpose for implementation of
BMPs is to conserve and protect soil, water and air
resources. BMPs for livestock farms are a specific
set of practices used by farmers to reduce the
amount of soil, nutrients, pesticides and microbial
contaminants entering surface water and groundwater
while maintaining or improving the productivity of
agricultural land. This list of BMPs is a guide for the
selection and implementation of those practices that
will help cattle farmers conserve soil and protect water
and air resources by reducing pollutants that can reach
both surface water and groundwater.
Introduction
2. Introduction
The cattle industry in the southeastern United
States is predominately comprised of cow-calf
production systems, and the vast majority of those are
small- and medium-size beef cattle producers. The
number of farms in Louisiana where beef cows and
heifers first calved in 2007 and their distribution based
on herd size is shown in Table 1.
Louisiana producers generally have small numbers
of cows, with approximately 80 percent having less
than 50 productive females and approximately 50
percent having less than 20 females. Approximately
90 percent of the calves weigh less than 500 pounds at
weaning.
Table 1. Number of farms distributed by beef cow
herd size for Louisiana.
Number of farms Louisiana
with beef cow herd size of:
1 to 9 3,565
10 to 19 2,667
20 to 49 3,536
50 to 99 1,469
Total herds 12,355
Producers with cow-calf herds containing less than
50 cows are concerned with rising production costs
and, in some cases, a decreasing opportunity to buy
land. Without the economy of scale needed to spread
costs over a larger herd, the profitability of the small
3 LSU AgCenter Pub.2884
4 Sustainable Best Management Practices for Beef Production - BMPs Practical Side of BMPs
3. The Practical Side of BMPs
By implementing or using best management
practices, Louisiana cattle producers are minimizing
pollution of water resources of the state as well
as saving money in some cases. Sediment runoff
reduction is one of the most important practices a beef
producer can strive for, both from an economical and
environmental perspective. Sediment is the largest
pollutant by volume of surface water in the nation.
Sediment pollution comes from several sources
including agricultural operations that leave bare soil
exposed to rainfall.
From an economic perspective, allowing nutrientladen
soil to run off the farm/ranch and into rivers
and streams is a financial loss to the operation. Soil
lost in this manner can never be used by the cattle
producer again to produce forage or grazing pastures
to support production. Retaining as much soil as
possible can reduce the amount of fertilizers and other
soil amendments needed to maintain adequate forage
and grazing acreage.
Negative environmental effects that are increasingly
noticed and can cause much concern to the public and
environmental regulatory agencies include increasing
the turbidity of water, reducing light penetration,
impairing photosynthesis and altering oxygen
relationships (which can reduce the available food
supply for certain aquatic organisms). It can adversely
affect fish populations in areas where sediment
deposits cover spawning beds and also, in some
situations and given a long enough period of time,
partially fill lakes and reservoirs.
In addition, sediment often is rich in organic
matter. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and
certain pesticides may enter streams with sediment.
The potentially harmful effects of these substances
accompanying the sediment may include rapid algae
growth, oxygen depletion as organic matter and
algae decompose, fish kills from oxygen depletion,
toxic effects of pesticides on aquatic life and unsafe
drinking water caused by nitrate or pesticide content.
Manure runoff reduction is of paramount important
to livestock operators. Cattle producers should
practice all cost-effective methods to ensure all waste
is handled and treated properly. One of the greatest
concerns of the regulatory agencies and the public is
the escape of manure runoff and the accompanying
bacteria and nutrients that can enter the streams and
tributaries of Louisiana’s surface waters.
Many of the water bodies in Louisiana that are
listed as impaired and require attention by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the Louisiana
Department of Environmental Quality are polluted
with fecal coliform bacteria and do not meet their
designated use for swimming, water contact or fishing.
Not all of this pollution can be attributed to livestock
operations, but in the public’s minds, livestock is
always at least part of the source. Fecal coliform is a
term used to describe bacteria found in the intestinal
tract of warm-blooded animals. Surface waters are
monitored for the presence and concentration of fecal
coliforms. Not all coliforms are harmful to human
health. In fact, some fecal coliforms are normal and
essential for human digestion. Without them, our
digestive system would not function properly.
If fecal material is present in stream segments in
excessive concentrations, the Louisiana Department
of Health and Hospitals states there is the potential
for other harmful pathogens to also be present. Some
forms of coliforms such as a few strains of E. coli can
be transmitted from cattle to humans or from person
to person and may be harmful to human health. When
excessive concentrations of fecal coliforms are found
in monitored rivers and streams, DHH may issue
advisories or closures of affected surface waters.
Additionally, manure runoff also contains nitrogen and
phosphorus and can result in nutrient overenrichment
of water bodies, which can cause algae blooms and
oxygen depletion in surface waters and result in
killing of fish and other aquatic animals.
Nutrient management is another profoundly
important aspect of livestock operations, and much
attention is given to this aspect of cattle management
in this manual. Excessive nutrient runoff can cost the
farm significant amounts of money. Often, without
a sound, comprehensive nutrient management plan,
cattle producers may apply too much of these essential
elements. When this occurs, it’s just