Manure Management

Plan

1. What is its purpose?

The purpose of the Manure Management Plan is to highlight and outline strategies and targets
relating to the application, utilisation, and storage of manures. This can help you to increase the
efficiency of your manure applications as well as identify the areas for improvement, by regular
soil testing and analysing field records.

Ensure that your Manure Management Plan is cross-referenced with your Integrated Nutrient
Management Plan.

2. What should it include?

The plan should consider all manures, slurry, compost, digestate and any other organic
additions, major and micro-nutrients, trace elements as well as nutrient interactions. A
programme of regular analysis, e.g., every 4 years, will help in determining these values,
with the opportunity to benchmark data against previous years.

Requirements of the plan:

• The value of manure, slurry, compost, anaerobic digestate, industrial waste and
other organic materials in your enterprise
• Map of NVZs
• Field records including application date and application rate
• Registration of industrial waste (other than sewage sludge) to local authorities under
local legislation
• Calculations of adequate safe holding capacity of slurry and manure
• Strategies to minimise emissions during slurry application

Other areas to consider:

• Field references, soil type(s) and crop requirements

• Calculations of nutrients in both livestock and organic manures
• Include any management agreements such as environmental designation
• Use testing or standard figures to establish the nutritional content of organic substances
to ensure you are making the most of the nutrients that are available

LEAF Management Plans: Manure Management Plan Page 1 of 2

May 2022
 Where there is no minimum capacity stated in law, animal manure or slurry stores should
have capacity for at least 4 months of storage, or at an amount that is justified using the
context of the businesses, resources available, and requirements and targets set out in this
plan.

3. Communicating the plan

The plan should be read and understood by all key members of staff. Where appropriate,
relevant staff should be informed of manure management strategies and their intended
outcome as well as the key targets for future improvement.

4. Review and update

The plan should be reviewed at least annually, and where appropriate, updated. Consider any
new challenges you have faced, the manure management strategies that are available to you,
and the relevance of the targets that have been set.

The implementation of the plan should also be reviewed at least annually, recording progress
towards all targets. This should also consider how the strategies have been implemented, and
whether this can be improved. If necessary, the findings from this review should inform
updates to the plan.

LEAF’s Management Plans and Policies are designed to help you implement Integrated Farm Management. Producing them enables you to reflect on
your management practices and consider efficiencies and improvements, as well as focus on certain priority areas in more detail and consider how to
use them effectively for internal communication and in some case, externally. They also ensure your plans are integrated across the whole farm business.

These Management Plans and Policies reflect the best available information on the topic as of the publication date. While all reasonable endeavours
have been made to ensure the accuracy of the investigations and the information contained in this report, LEAF does not take any responsibility for any
and all liabilities contingent or otherwise that may arise from the use of the information.

Following these guidelines does not automatically assume that you are compliant to the LEAF Marque Standard, you must always refer to the current
LEAF Marque Standard and the requirements held within that.

LEAF Management Plans: Manure Management Plan Page 2 of 2

May 2022