Online tool helps farmers time manure applications with weather
National Weather Service provides data and guidance to states to create similar tools in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) recently announced that it has teamed up with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service to design a tool that helps farmers and commercial applicators determine the best time to apply manure.
The Runoff Risk Advisory Forecast tool uses past and predicted National Weather Service (NWS) weather data, such as precipitation, temperature and snow melt, to predict the likelihood that applied manure will run off fields in daily, next-day and 72-hour increments, MDA said. Farmers and commercial applicators can use an interactive map to locate their field and find the forecasted risk. Users can also sign up for email or text messages for their county that alert them to a severe runoff risk for that day.