Wednesday, November 15, 2006
293-11
Water Quality Mitigation from Animal Feeding Operations Using Buffer Strips.
Adam Sigler and James Bauder. Montana State Univ, Leon Johnson Hall Rm 245, Bozeman, MT 59717-3120
Animal feeding operations (AFOs) have often traditionally been situated on surface water for ease of livestock watering. Water quality impacts from these operations and the mitigation benefits from relocating these operations have been well documented. However, moving fencing and infrastructure can be expensive and disruptive to livestock management. For this reason, it is important to understand which best management practices (BMPs) and which elements of those BMPs are most important for mitigating water quality impacts. The current study is evaluating the effectiveness of BMP implementation on 4 AFOs in Montana at mitigating fecal bacteria, total suspended solids, and nutrient impacts on surface water.