Manure management looks different from farm to farm. Some producers rely on lagoons. Others separate solids, compost manure or scrape alleys.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to give producers more ways to manage manure, with federal funding available to help pay for the work.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., has reintroduced the Converting Our Waste Sustainably Act, or COWS Act, alongside Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., introduced companion legislation in the House.
The legislation would establish an Alternative Manure Management Program within USDA and provide funding for producers who adopt manure management practices designed to reduce methane emissions and, where applicable, improve carbon sequestration.
The proposal would make alternative manure management practices eligible for support through USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP. Funding could help producers purchase equipment, make infrastructure improvements and implement practices such as pasture-based management, alternative manure treatment and storage, solid separation systems and scrape technologies.
USDA also would provide technical assistance and training for producers implementing manure management and composting practices.
What Could Producers Use the Funding For?
The list of eligible practices gives producers several ways to approach manure management, rather than pushing every operation toward the same system.
The legislation is aimed in part at producers currently using lagoons or other predominantly liquid, anaerobic manure storage systems. It also could apply to operations using anaerobic systems designed to capture methane if they add or replace those systems with a qualifying practice.
For pasture-based operations, funding could support expanding pasture access, increasing the amount of time cattle spend on pasture or improving pasture management, including management-intensive rotational grazing.
Other eligible practices could include compost-bedded pack barns, slatted-floor manure storage cleaned at least monthly and systems designed to avoid wet manure handling.
Producers using solid separation systems could receive support for open solar drying, enclosed solar drying, forced evaporation, manure storage in piles or stacks and several types of aerated composting.
Scrape technologies, including vacuum systems, also are included when used with qualifying manure management practices.
The bill would allow individual producers to apply for contracts. It also would allow groups of producers to submit a joint contract offer for a shared composting facility.
How Much Funding Could be Available?
For producers considering a manure management upgrade, the size of the proposed financial assistance could be one of the biggest draws.
The bill calls for $1.5 billion in funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation for fiscal years 2024 through 2028. Payments could cover up to 100% of eligible costs tied to planning, design, materials, equipment, installation, labor, management, maintenance and training.
Payments would be capped at $825,000 per person or legal entity over a five-year period.
At least 50% of a producer’s total payment would be provided in advance for materials, equipment and technical assistance.
Most of the program’s funding would be reserved for small and midsized dairy and livestock operations, including beginning farmers and ranchers and limited-resource farmers and ranchers.
Contracts could run for up to three years.
The Idea Comes from California
The COWS Act is modeled after California’s Alternative Manure Management Program, or AMMP, which was established in 2017 to support manure management practices other than digesters.
The program has supported 198 projects estimated to reduce 1.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over five years.
Padilla says the federal legislation would build on work already being done through California’s program.
“As California continues to provide food for families across the country, it’s critical we equip our producers with resources and tools to ensure sustainable and cost-effective practices,” Padilla says. “Yet, today’s climate crisis demands that we adopt a more sustainable agricultural model.”
The legislation would invest in “long-term and low-cost pasture management treatments,” Padilla says, supporting family dairies, improving air quality and protecting the environment.
Composting Gets a Closer Look
Supporters of the COWS Act point to benefits beyond greenhouse gas reductions.
The legislation directs USDA to rank applications based on potential carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas reductions and environmental and public health benefits. Projects addressing air or water quality and public health concerns near low-income or underserved communities also would receive priority.
Composting receives specific attention in the bill.
The legislation would add composting practices to existing conservation programs and direct USDA to develop a new conservation practice standard for on-farm compost production.
For producers, more support for composting could create another way to put manure to work. Manure-derived compost can be used as a soil amendment and may improve water retention and soil health while providing another use for manure produced on the farm.
“The COWS Act gives dairy farmers of all sizes practical tools to cut methane emissions, improve water quality, and generate valuable compost as an alternative to synthetic fertilizers,” says Lynne McBride, executive director of the California Dairy Campaign.
McBride also points to the financial pressure facing producers.
“At a time when California dairies are under real economic pressure due to low milk prices and high input costs this kind of flexible, EQIP-backed support is exactly what family dairies need,” she says.
Kevin Abernathy, general manager of Milk Producers Council, says the benefits can extend beyond emissions.
“The science has shown that the implementation of post-conservation practices in the dairy ecosystem helps improve soil health, provides cleaner air and water, and leads to healthier animals,” Abernathy says.
“California’s Alternative Manure Management Program has been a model for smart conservation practices, and the COWS Act would help expand this model nationwide.”
Producers Already Have Manure Systems in Place
The bill’s supporters point out producers are already investing in manure management. The proposed program would give more producers access to funding for additional improvements.
“Dairy farmers do exceptional work on their farms to practice sound manure management, a critical conservation priority for maintaining healthy operations and protecting local land and water resources,” says Gregg Doud, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation.
The challenge, Doud says, is access to conservation funding.
“Yet despite that leadership, oversubscribed conservation programs limit farmers’ access to the tools and support they need,” he says. “Expanding these opportunities will recognize the great work farmers are already doing and improve their ability to innovate on a much greater scale.”
New Mexico also could benefit from the proposed program. Heinrich notes the state ranks ninth in U.S. milk production and fifth in cheese production.
“New Mexico is the ninth-largest dairy milk producer in the country, and fifth in cheese production. It’s important that our producers have access to the alternative manure management tools they need to be resilient, support our local economies, and help us keep healthy and nutritious food on our tables,” Heinrich says.
He says the legislation would “help equip New Mexico producers with cost-effective, sustainable manure management practices that protect our air and water while strengthening their operations for years to come.”
For producers considering a manure management project, the COWS Act would offer another potential source of financial and technical support. The legislation does not point producers toward one manure system. Instead, it lays out a range of practices farms could use based on their existing setup, goals and infrastructure.
