In-field, hands-on learning environments offer the ability to engage and learn in a way that cannot be readily duplicated in a classroom setting.
This is why the 2018 North American Manure Expo – being held August 15 and 16 in Brookings, South Dakota – wants to offer attendees a chance to get out of the classroom into some dirt with three on-farm demonstration tours.
On Wednesday, August 15, three local operations from differing sectors will open their farm gates to Expo attendees. Tours include:
Tour 1: Mooving manure on dairies
This tour will take attendees to a local dairy operation to see first-hand how manure separation, aeration and irrigation are working together. Learn about the design, implementation, management and experiences of mooving manure.
Tour 2: Beefing up the system
This tour will visit a local farm that raises beef cattle and manages manure in open lots, bedded pack barns and deep pit systems. The tour will also showcase the South Dakota State University Cow-Calf Education and Research Facility, which showcases research and manure management for both pasture and confinement systems.
Tour #3 - A look inside swine systems
This tour will take participants inside swine barns to see how manure storages are designed and managed, and the pig environment. The tour includes a swine barn under construction. At the South Dakota State University Swine Education and Research Facility, a viewing hallway allows tour participants to see inside the gestation barn and view stall and pen gestation and farrowing in action.
"The tours are a great opportunity to see a range of Midwest farms. More importantly, the tours provide a chance to talk with the owners and managers about their day-to-day experiences managing manure as part of their overall operations,” says Erin Cortus, tour organizer and extension specialist with the University of Minnesota. “All the cooperating producers share a common goal of continual improvement and openness about what and why they do what they do. Register soon because space is limited for some tours!"
Tours cost $20 to attend and include transportation to and from the Swiftel Centre in Brookings, as well as a box lunch. Preregistration is required.
Don’t miss out, register today! For more information, please visit: manuremanager.com/manure-expo/
For more information about this event, please contact David Kringen, chair of South Dakota NAME planning committee, at (605) 995-7378 or david.kringen@sdstate.edu.
For information about the tours, please contact Erin Cortus, assistant professor and extension specialist, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota at 612-625-8288 or ecortus@umn.edu.
