In-Field Manure Stacking Requirements

This guidance applies to all participating Act 38 farms whether VOA, CAO, or CAFOs stacking manure for an extended period of time, and for those stacking manure from Act 38 farms on imported sites.

The regulations call for the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) relating to in-field manure stacking. Guidance on how to meet that requirement is as follows:

1. The regulation states that the land application of the stacked manure shall occur within 120 days of stacking or by the next growing season, whichever is less.
• For situations where stacks will be placed in fields with the expectation that it will be there for longer than 120 days, the stack shall be covered with an impermeable cover within 3 weeks of placing the stack in the field. Covering of manure stacks with an impermeable cover will eliminate the need to apply the manure within the 120 day, or by the next growing season, limitation.
2. The regulation also states that the location of in-field manure stacking sites must be identified on the nutrient management plan or nutrient balance sheet maps.
3. The stacks should be rotated so that stacking will only occur once every 4 years on a specific manure stacking pile footprint.
4. Stacked piles should be stacked in a cone or windrow shape so as to shed rainwater. This shape limitation would not be necessary if, upon stacking, the stack will be covered with an impermeable cover.
5. Stacks should be setback 100 feet from streams (intermittent and perennial), lakes, ponds, open existing sinkholes, and active water wells.
6. Stacks should not be located in water concentration areas, such as a swale, ditch, or waterway.
7. Stacks should not be located on areas that have excessively drained soils. This limitation would not be necessary if, upon stacking, the stack will be covered with an impermeable cover.
8. Stacks should not be located within 3 feet of the seasonal high water table.
9. Stacks should not be located above subsurface drain tiles. This limitation would not be necessary if, upon stacking, the stack will be covered with an impermeable cover.
10. Stacking sites should not have a slope of greater than 8%.
11. Stacking sites with slopes between 3 and 8% should not be located further than 100 feet from the top of the slope unless a diversion is constructed of soil above the stack.
12. The manure must be dry enough to allow for stacking at least 4 feet in height. When stacking on the application field, the volume needs to be limited to the amount that can be spread on the fields nearby to the stack.

The above criteria only address situations where manure is stacked in a field in order to facilitate manure application to those fields where the manure is being stacked

This guidance does not pertain to areas used for the composting of manure or dead animals.

October 2005