January 19, 2022
The purpose of this news article is to provide a reminder of basic proper biosecurity protocols. One never knows who is watching. Some decisions we make may seem minor to us at the time, but could be potentially devastating for a farm or several farm operations and their livelihood.
January 12, 2022
The Nutrient Management Program has updated the Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) Standard Format planning tool to Version 8.1. Several updates were added to resolve identified issues and provide additional information.
January 5, 2022
The presentation and comment/response documents for the Supplemental On-Site Status Review Webinar are now available.
November 29, 2021
The new Manure Matching Tool connects manure exporters with customers.
November 22, 2021
New versions of the Act 38 nutrient management planning tools and technical manuals were released in October 2021. The State Conservation Commission conducted a series of update webinars to review the critical updates.
October 5, 2021
NBS Excel Version 6.0 – October 2021 and NBS Word Version 6.0 – October 2021 have been released by the Act 38 Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Program. Version 6.0 includes several significant updates which are reflected in a version change from 5.0 to 6.0.
September 28, 2021
Version 12.0 of the Pennsylvania Act 38 Nutrient Management Program Technical Manual has been approved by the State Conservation Commission and has been made available on the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Program website. The official release date is October 2021.
September 28, 2021
Version 6.0 of the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management and Manure Management Program Administrative Manual has been approved by the State Conservation Commission and has been made available on the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Program website. The official release date is October 2021.
September 28, 2021
NMP Excel Version 8.0 – October 2021 and NMP Word Version 8.0 – October 2021 have been released by the Act 38 Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Program. Version 8.0 includes several updates to resolve identified issues and provide additional information.
May 10, 2021
The State Conservation Commission (SCC) is pleased to announce the hiring of Amy Zerbe as the new Conservation Program Specialist in the North East Region of Pennsylvania.
December 22, 2020
The purpose of this article is to remind Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) and Nutrient Balance Sheet (NBS) reviewers that for every NMP or NBS submitted for review and/or action, the reviewer should be verifying that the plan writer or Broker 2 is a certified planner.
December 22, 2020
The purpose of this article is to clarify the requirements for accurately delineating manure application setbacks from water features on Act 38 Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) and Nutrient Balance Sheet (NBS) maps.
May 18, 2020
Microsoft will end support for Office 2010 in October 2020. It may be time to update your Microsoft Office Products.
April 27, 2020
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released a memorandum entitled Emergency Land Application of Milk Under COVID-19 that provides guidance under a temporary suspension and relaxation of some land application policies that concern application of milk to cropland and pastures.
April 26, 2020
The COVID-19 virus restrictions have caused significant challenges for Pennsylvania livestock and poultry operations. Nutrient and manure management guidance to address several of these scenarios is provided below.
April 24, 2020
There are similarities as well as differences between the record keeping requirements for the Act 38 Nutrient Management Program (Act 38) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) program under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
April 13, 2020
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently developed a guidance document entitled Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Manual for Agricultural Operations.
April 9, 2020
The purpose of this article is to review with plan writers and plan reviewers how Nutrient Management Plans (NMP or plan) can be flexible through the use of plan updates and the flexibility offered with electronic submission of certain parts of the plan.
March 15, 2020
The requirement and process for completing the Phosphorus Index in Nutrient Balance Sheets (NBS) is somewhat different than for Nutrient Management Plans (NMP). It is important to understand and remember these differences when developing and reviewing both of them.
March 6, 2020
The Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) requirements for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are all but the same as they are for Concentrated Animal Operations (CAOs) and Volunteer Animal Operations (VAOs). One of the slight differences is the ability for the CAFO Program to pull in additional manure application setbacks.
March 6, 2020
How are Act 38 Nutrient Management Plans amendments different from updates? Following is an explanation of how they are different and what is needed for plan amendments versus what is needed for plan updates.
February 27, 2020
During the past year several papers were published which are recommended reading for anyone who is involved in Pennsylvania’s nutrient and manure management efforts.
February 17, 2020
This article outlines the proper procedure and format for submitting a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) after the start of the crop year when manure has already been spread and/or exported from the operation.
January 14, 2020
The Nutrient Management Program has updated the Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) Standard Format planning tool to Version 7.3. Several updates were added to resolve identified issues and provide additional information.
December 18, 2019
The Nutrient Management Program has updated the Nutrient Balance Sheet (NBS) Excel Standard Format planning tool to Version 5.3. Several updates were added to resolve identified issues and provide additional information.
December 16, 2019
The Nutrient Management Program has updated the Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) Standard Format planning tool to Version 7.2. Several updates were added to resolve identified issues and provide additional information.
December 12, 2019
Whether or not a plan is a useful tool or just a piece of paper can depend on many factors.
November 19, 2019
The cultivation of hemp in Pennsylvania has increased significantly in the past crop year. As a result, hemp is more frequently included in Act 38 nutrient management plans (NMP) and nutrient balance sheets (NBS). Finding reliable nutrient recommendations and removal values for a crop that has not been grown for decades has been challenging.
November 19, 2019
The purpose of this article is to remind plan writers, plan reviewers, and farmers of the regulations related to manure application in the winter, what DEP needs from CAFOs heading into winter, and winter in-field manure stacking procedures.
October 28, 2019
This article is intended to serve as a reminder of the most appropriate means to ensure planner and reviewer cooperation, timely plan reviews, allowing time for planner edits, and the approval of quality plans. It has come to our attention recently that some technical review comments have been sent only allowing the plan writer anywhere from 5-15 days to provide edits before the plan will be acted on.
