MCE Agricultural Nutrient Management Program

Plan Writing Tools

A nutrient management plan is a formal document that balances crop nutrient needs with nutrients that are applied in the form of commercial fertilizer, animal manure, or biosolids. The plan contains soil test results, manure and biosolids analyses (where applicable), yield goals, and estimates of residual nitrogen to generate field-by-field nutrient recommendations. The following information sheets and work sheets will help you in the plan writing process.

Data Collection
Farm Information Sheet Field Information Sheet Manure Information Sheet Finding Tax Account ID Numbers "Mapping: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (Nutrient Management News, MDA, Fall 2001)

Soil Sampling & Testing
Soil Sampling Procedures for Nutrient Management (For Producer Use) Soil Sampling Procedures for Nutrient Management (For Advisor Use) Comparison of Soil Test Labs (2-28-08 update) Obtaining Electronic Copies of Soil Test Results

Manure (and Other Organic Wastes) Sampling & Testing
Sampling Manure for Nutrient Content (NM-6) Sampling Litter in Poultry Houses Comparison of Some Labs Testing Manure 2003 Manure Summary Report Manure Quantity Estimation For Solid Manure (Windows® Excel Spreadsheet) Manure Quantity Estimation For Solid & Liquid Manure (Windows® Excel Spreadsheet) Poultry Litter Quantity Estimation (Annual Version) (Windows® Excel Spreadsheet) Poultry Litter Quantity Estimation (Multi-Year Version) (Windows® Excel Spreadsheet) Converting Nutrient Content of Wastes From a Dry-weight Basis to an As-received (or Wet) Basis Manure Production Rate Table Density of Bedding Materials Table Rainfall Data for Maryland Counties

Tissue Sampling & Testing
Sample Collection and Preparation for Perennial Fruit Crops Comparison of Some Labs Testing Plant Tissue

Compost Testing
Comparison of Some Labs Testing Compost

Phosphorus Site Index
Instructions for Accessing and Using the NCSS Web Soil Survey to Determine Dominant Map Units and Related Soil Information Equivalent Phosphorus Index Threshold Levels

Generating Recommendations
Fertilizer Recommendations Manure & Fertilizer Recommendations Mineralization Rates (For organic nutrient sources) Multi-Calculation Worksheet (Calculates N Credits, Net N Recommendations, N-Based Manure Application Rate & Additional Fertilizer Requirements When Using Manure) Estimating Plant Available Nitrogen (PAN) in Manure Fertilizer Recommendations for Bearing Perennial Fruit Crops Fertilizer Recommendations for Non-Bearing Perennial Fruit Crops

Reviewing Your Nutrient Management Plan
Nutrient Management Plan & MDA Reporting Requirements (Operations Using Commercial Fertilizer Only) Nutrient Management Plan & MDA Reporting Requirements (Operations Using Manure & Commercial Fertilizer) Nutrient Management Plan & MDA Reporting Requirements (Operations Using Manure & Commercial Fertilizer Who Are Submitting Tissue Analysis)

Cover Sheet
Nutrient Management Plan Cover Sheet

Plan Follow-Up
Fact Sheet 419 Calibrating Manure Spreaders Corn Stalk Nitrate Testing SFM-2 Making Decisions for Nitrogen Fertilization Using the PSNT (PSNT) NM-1 Estimating Corn Silage Yield NM-4 Estimating Corn Grain Yield

Questions and/or comments should be sent to jsalak@umd.edu
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Page last modified July 8, 2008 | © 2005 University of Maryland

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