By Olivia DeMott, DCSWCD.
UNADILLA – Historical Delaware County is well-known for farming and crop abundance, and modern-day technology brings mechanical advancements to enhance local farmer’s abilities to grow and harvest their crops. These advancements include implementation of designed cow manure storage, as well as the implementation of prescribed manure injection on cropland during the growing season. Both, of which allow for more effective manure nutrient recycling and reduced risk of nutrient loss to the environment.
On Friday, August 29, the local Delaware County community, and further regions witnessed a pivotal event in the county’s agriculture advancement at Joleanna Holstein farm (Derek, Erin, Luke and Janette Johnson, and family), Unadilla, New York. The farm hosted the first Delaware County Manure Injection Field Day, and the 2025 growing season had seen Delaware County’s first-ever disc coulter manure injection using precision ag technology on agricultural cropland. This achievement was made possible through a $3 million, 3-year federal Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) project awarded by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services to the Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District (DCSWCD); Sustainable Chesapeake cosponsored the event as well. The project is coordinated and implemented by DCSWCD with help of partnering agencies that was made possible through Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County (CCEDC), Watershed Agriculture Council (WAC), PRO Dairy, Cornell University Nutrient Management Spear Program, USDA Natural resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA).
The event consisted of informational presentations in the morning, lunch hosted by Brad Taggart (with the addition of locally loved, home-grown Johnson’s sweet corn), and live manure injection demonstrations, as well as manure spill response demonstration to close the day. Introductory statements and gratitude were opened by Paul Cerosaletti (CCEDC and CIG Project Coordinator), with further statements from Graydon Dutcher (DCSWCD interim Executive Director), Gideon Frisbee (NYS Department of Ag and Markets Environmental Analyst), and Tony Capraro (USDA NRCS NY Assistant State Conservationist). Presentations on the value of manure injection were made by Kirsten Workman (PRO Dairy nutrient management specialist) and Dr. Quirine Ketterings (Director, Cornell University Nutrient Management Spear Program), as well as a panel of local Delaware County farmers and agriculture businessmen. The panel included farmers, Derek Johnson, and Mark Kenyon of Marick Farms, Jim and Matt Gray of NelJean Farms (who provided their personal manure injection unit for demonstration), Frank Albano of Albano’s Precision Application (APA), and Kirsten Workman of PRO Dairy. The afternoon session included the live manure injection demonstration into both sod and corn stubble, featuring both APA, and Gray’s manure injectors. The last demonstration of the day was the manure spill response display. Thank you to Pro Dairy, the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District Manure Spill Response team, and the Watershed Agriculture Council for coordination of a safe, effective, and informative demonstration of techniques that farmers and agency professionals can use in real-life scenarios on the farm. Approximately 102 people attended the Manure Injection Field Day, including agency representatives, farmers, local community members, and even U.S.
19th district congressman, Josh Riley. Riley had even proudly taken his picture in one of the manure injector units with APA operator, John Albano.
Disc coulter manure injection technology includes a tool bar of multiple disc coulters attached to a liquid manure tanker. The tool bar includes multiple hose attachments leading to a rolling vertical, 20- inch disc coulters that create an incision 3-6 inches below the ground surface into which manure is injected from tubes that hover a couple inches above the incision. With a tractor pulling at a relatively slow speed (approximately of 3-6 miles per hour), the typical rate of application is anywhere from 4000 to 14,000 gallons per acre or more, depending on the crop. Precision ag-technology helps to maintain the desired rate across the field as well as create digital as-applied manure maps and records. Injection of manure keeps the manure below the soil surface with very minimal disruption, resulting in manure nutrients being more available to crops, increasing crop yields, and reducing nutrient runoff risks. Additionally, injection greatly reduces odor and is appreciated by neighbors, which has alone, raised popularity of this technique. For the manure spill demonstration, a ditch and culvert mechanism was pre-built for a tanker to "spill” a small volume of manure into. Staff then demonstrated various spill containment techniques. Cleanup of the spill was demonstrated using special pumps and a large vacuum truck; water from a firetruck (Unadilla Fire Department) was used to demonstrate dilution techniques.
The day was a success, leaving attendees in awe of the available technology that modern day agriculture brings, now making its way to Delaware County. The $3 million federal Conservation Innovation Grant project will allow for local Delaware County farmers to have this technology at their fingertips for at least 3 years, through Albano’s Precision Application, located in Stamford, New York. In the future concern of local farming, as well as environmental conservation efforts, additional grant funding will be sought in hopes of continuing the project for years to come after 2027.
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