Manure comes to light

Lynn Grooms
Jun 26, 2023
Jun 26, 2023

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Manure is pumped from a lagoon at the University of Wisconsin-Arlington Agricultural Research Station. The manure's nutrients will later be measured using a sensor attached to a tanker.

University of Wisconsin

Box containing NIR sensor on manure tanker

A box containing a near-infrared-spectroscopy sensor is placed on a pump line on a manure tanker.

University of Wisconsin

Manure is applied to a field at the UW-Arlington Agricultural Research Station. As manure flows from the tanker onto the field, a near-infrared-spectroscopy sensor takes thousands of measurements per second. In real time it predicts concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, ammonium and potassium.

University of Wisconsin

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Lynn Grooms

Manure is a great resource for crop production but it comes with limitations and issues. Variation in manure solids and nutrient levels is an issue from a crop-production standpoint. So researchers are studying how technology could be used to improve manure application and the nutrient-use efficiency of both nitrogen and phosphorus.

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Lynn Grooms writes about the diversity of agriculture, including the industry’s newest ideas, research and technologies as a staff reporter for Agri-View based in Wisconsin.