February 16, 2010 – The science, current research, practices, and programs for Pennsylvania’s animal agricultural operations and best protection of air and water quality are the focus of a weekly webinar program being held on Thursdays from February 18 to April 29, 2010.

The webinar series – Manure Du Jour: Serving Pennsylvania’s Best Practices on Animal Ag, Air, and Water Quality – will highlight critical tools as increasing regulatory scrutiny of on-farm environmental management swells with the Chesapeake Bay mandates along with statewide concern for water quality. Manure Du Jour will feature experts from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Cooperative Extension, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission (SCC), and guests from Virginia Tech, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, private sector and other research institutions, non-governmental organizations, and agencies.

Manure Du Jour is an educational program designed for practitioners in county conservation district and extension offices, as well as for NRCS and state agencies with responsibility for environmental protection and the well-being of agriculture. The webinar is also open to producers, consultants, agribusiness and others. An online question and answer period will take place each week following the speaker presentations to enable participant interaction with the featured experts.

To access the free webinar, participants should have:

1. A high-speed internet access. If you do not have access to high speed internet at your home or office, consider visiting the local library or contact your county’s conservation district office or extension office.
2. A Friends of Penn State (FPS) account. Obtain your free FPS account by visiting http://fops.psu.edu and filling out the registration form for a user ID and password. Please keep a record of your user name and password – as it will be required for each entry to the webinar location.

Season Two of Manure Du Jour will focus on environmental challenges confronting Pennsylvania agriculture and the tools for addressing them including GIS-based decision support tools for adaptive management, estrogen and pharmaceuticals in water – both their impact and control, erosion and sediment control from farm lanes, – and the “next generation” of nutrient management, innovative technologies and approaches.

What’s on the Menu Experts

(Time: 1:30 to 2:30 PM)

• Feb. 18 – Science and Practice in Erosion and Sediment Control for Farm Lanes David Creamer and Steve Blosser, PA Dirt & Gravel Road Center
• Feb. 25 – Decision Support Tools – Using GIS for Environmental Adaptive Management Rick Day, Penn State Land and Water Analysis Laboratory, Crop and Soil Science; with introduction by Doug Beegle, Crop and Soil Science
• March 4 – Precision Feeding – Science and Application of Pollution Prevention at its Best Virginia Ishler, Dairy and Animal Science; Sarah Dinh, Lancaster County Extension
• March 11 – Digesters v. Super Digesters – On Farm and Regional Approaches Bob Graves, Agricultural and Biological Engineering; Bill Shuffstall, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
  
• March 18 – Surplus Nutrients to Deficit Regions: Manure Application in PA’s Acid Mine Lands and Trading Scenarios Rick Steuhower, Crop and Soil Science; Scott Van de Mark, PA Environmental Council
• March 25 – Movement of Estrogen and Other Emerging Contaminants through the Water Environment Jack Watson, Crop and Soil Science; Jim Clark, McKean/Potter County Extension; Deno De Ciantis, Penn State Center in Pittsburg (moderator)
• April 1 – Demystifying the TMDL: The State Way, the Bay Way Brian Benham, Virginia Tech Center for TMDLs and Watershed Studies; Denice Wardrop, Geography and Penn State Institutes of Energy and Environment
• April 8 – The Science Behind Forested Riparian Buffers: Why they’re the best of the good, better, best. David Wise, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Invited Guest Speaker;
• April 15 – Innovative Technologies for Manure Application and Manure Expo 2010 Preview Peter Kleinman, USDA ARS; Robb Meinen, Dairy and Animal Science
• April 22 – Using Industrial Resources or Byproducts for Nutrient Sequestration Ray Bryant, USDA ARS; Bob Hedin, Iron Oxide Recovery Inc.
• April 29 – BMPs and Environmental Stewardship on Equine Operation Ann Swinker, Dairy and Animal Sciences; Donna Foulk, Northampton County Extension

Beginning May 13, the Manure Du Jour series will convert to a monthly schedule, meeting the second Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m. The May 13 session will feature Dave Dunn with the Central Vermont Public Service “Cow Power” project which links farms, renewable energy and customers, “providing renewable energy one cow at a time.”