Manure Management Record Keeping Regulations

The purpose of AOPA is to ensure that the province’s livestock industry can grow to meet the opportunities presented by local and world markets in an environmentally sustainable manner.

The Agricultural Operation Practices Act (AOPA) sets out manure management standards for all agricultural operations in Alberta. Under AOPA, confined feeding operations (CFOs) and anyone who handles 500 tonnes or more per year of manure must keep records for a minimum of five years. The following types of activities require record keeping: manure production manure transfer manure application Terms used in this publication have been simplified to make it easier to read. Complete definitions are found in Section 1 of the legislation. For example: the term manure* in this document includes the livestock excreta, straw, other bedding material, litter, soil, wash water and feed in the manure. Composted manure has the same requirements as manure.

Some of the records required include soil test results, amount of manure produced or handled, the name and address of a person who receives or applies manure and the applicable dates as well as the application rates of manure and fertilizer. Record keeping and soil testing are not required for anyone who handles less than 500 tonnes of manure per year.

However, everyone must comply with the various manure application and short-term solid manure storage setback distances. Manure must also be applied or handled according to the soil nitrogen and salinity limits specified in the regulations or according to a nutrient management plan or a manure handling plan that has been approved by the Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB).

For more information, please refer to the contacts listed at the end of this publication.

Records Required for CFOs

A CFO owner or operator must keep the following records:

• volume or weight of manure produced
• name and mailing address, or legal land description, of a person to whom control of a total of 500 tonnes or more of manure is transferred in a year
• date of the transfer of manure
• volume or weight of manure transferred

CFO Manure Production Record* (Standards and Administration Regulation, Section 28 (2))			Name: ABC Feeders
Operating Unit: Feedlot	Address: Box 99, Anywhere, AB	Legal Land Description: SE 6-18-22-W6	Year: 2005
Type of Livestock: Beef Finishers	Number of Livestock: 7,000	Manure Production per Animal: 2.16 tonnes/year	Total Volume/Weight: 15,120 tonnes
Est. Total Nitrogen per Ton: 10 kg/tonne	Est. Crop N per Ton: 2.6 kg/tonne
Record of Manure or Compost Transfers
Date:	Name:	Address:	Manure Volume/Weight:
April 18-21, 2005	Self	SW 6-18-22-W6	4,900 tonnes
Sept. 21-26, 2005	J. Smith	NW 18-18-22-W	6 5,080 tonnes

• name and address of the person from whom manure is transferred, received or removed
• date the manure is transferred, received or removed
• volume or weight of manure that has been transferred, received or removed

Manure Transfer Record Form (Standards and Administration Regulation, Section 28 (3), (4))
Date: Sept. 21-26, 2005		Type of manure: Solid manure
	Transferred from:	Removed by:	Received by:
Name	ABC Feeders	XY Corral Cleaners	J. Smith
Address	Box 99, Anywhere, AB	Box 33, Where, AB	Box 52, Here, AB
Volume/Weight	5,080 tonnes	5,080 tonnes	5,080 tonnes

• name and address of the person from whom manure is received
• date the manure is received
• volume or weight of manure received
• legal land description of the land to which manure is applied
• area of the land to which manure is applied
• date the manure is applied
• volume or weight of manure applied
• application rates of manure nutrients and fertilizer by field and year
• dates of application and incorporation and the methods used for each field
• soil test results (see next section for details)

• extractable nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) from a soil depth of 0 to 60 centimetres (cm)
• soil salinity based on electrical conductivity (E.C.) from a soil depth of 0 to 15 cm

• soil texture, from a soil depth of 0 to 15 cm and 15 to 30 cm

Land Application Record* (Standards and Administration 28(5))
Owner		Legal Land Description		Field Name	Area
ABC Feeder		SW 6-18-22-W4		All	64 ha
.
Soil Test Records			Soil Texture		Soil Group or Farming Method
Date	NO3-N (0-60 cm)	E.C. (0-15 cm) (dS/m)	0-15 cm	15-30 cm
Oct. 22, 2002	55 kg/ha (0-60 cm)	1.1	Clay loam	Clay loam	Irrigated
May 4, 2007	80 kg/ha (0-60 cm)	1.1
.
Manure Receiving Record			Type of Manure or Compost	Volume or Weight	Estimated Available Nitrogen
Date	Received From: Name + Address
April 18-21, 2005	Self Box 99, Anytown, AB		Beef – Finisher	4,900 tonnes	2.6 kg/tonne
Sept. 14, 2005	Compost Company XYZ Box 32, Elsewhere, AB		Compost	2,900 tonnes	0.5 kg/tonne
.
Manure/Nutrient Application Record		Incorporation Record		Manure Application Rate	Available Nitrogen Application Rate
Date	Total Weight or Volume Applied	Date	Method
May 5, 2003	Fertilizer	N/A	N/A	N/A	50 kg/ha
April 18-21, 2005	4,900 tonnes	Apr 19-23, 2005	Cultivated	76.5 tonnes/ha	199 kg/ha
Sept. 14, 2005	2,900 tonnes	Sept. 16, 2005	Cultivated	40 tonnes/ha	20 kg/ha

• Table information in bold lettering means it is required by AOPA. Information that is not bolded is not required by AOPA, but is included to add clarity, especially for operations with more than one type of livestock.
• Soil test information used to determine manure application rates for each field must not be older than three years except for soil texture, which is a one-time analysis.
• To convert kg/ha into lbs/ac, divide the kg/ha by 1.1 (e.g. 110 kg/ha / 1.1 = 100 lbs/ac).
• To convert tons into tonnes, divide the tons by 1.1 (e.g. 550 tons/ 1.1 = 500 tonnes).
• For average solid and liquid manure volumes produced by livestock, refer to the blank record keeping forms.