Role of animal wastes in agricultural land runoff

Twelve typical agricultural areas representing three types of animal waste management techniques--lagooning, direct discharge into streams, and land spreading including pasture and drylot units--were studied to determine the amounts of and factors governing stream pollution from swine, dairy, beef, and poultry production operations. More than 1500 stream and lagoon effluent samples were collected with an automatic sampler developed for the study. The samples were analyzed for bacteria, nutrients, and degradable organics. Hydrological and waste management data were also collected. Study results point to the superiority of land spreading for the disposal of animal wastes.