April 2024 29 Pork News & Views Better Pork | April 2024 London Swine Conference The 2024 LSC, held March 5-6, was a very successful industry information sharing and networking event. Many new faces, optimism for the future, and an interest in gaining new ideas from both presenters and other producers were clearly evident. The first ever banquet on Tuesday evening was very popular and held the crowd together for excellent networking opportunities. At the banquet the chairs of Ontario Pork and London Swine Conference announced that the two organizations are working together to put on a two-day event in 2025 that would include the usual presentations and networking opportunities plus the Ontario Pork Annual General Meeting. The event will be held March 25-26, 2025 in London, Ontario. As well, the evening banquet on Day 1 will be developed into a larger celebration of the pork industry in Ontario for 2025. Stay tuned for details as this exciting project unfolds. Proceedings from the conference, and past conferences, are available at www.londonswineconference. ca. LSC is a collaboration of the University of Guelph, Ontario Pork Industry Council, Ontario Pork, and Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and is generously supported by many industry sponsors. The Power of Poop – Getting the Most Out of Manure Summary Handling manure is a cost associated with the livestock portion of the farm business. Good manure management in crop production helps to minimize that cost. Manure adds a layer of complexity to fertilizer management, but it also provides benefits to crops that commercial fertilizer on its own cannot provide. Using 4-R nutrient management strategies that consider manure source (liquid/solid), right timing and rate of application, as well as the right place/placement of manure, will provide the highest value of manure nutrients for the crops on your farm. This article will provide an overview of strategies that will help maximize the nutrient value of manure on your farm. Starting in the barn, we will consider how diet, manure additives and other factors impact the composition of manure entering the storage. Storage size, design and management will further affect manure nutrients before they are land applied. Management of manure application to cropland will determine the value of the nutrients and potential cost savings for fertilizer as well as environmental risks associated with nutrient losses. We will balance logistical or economic considerations that can result in compromising maximum economic value of manure for other benefits. For example, timing of application to reducing soil damage from compaction on wet or heavy-textured soils, or application timing where manure can be applied to fields further from the storage. Finally, some of the soil health benefits provided from using manure and/ or organic amendments will be presented. Manure Storage Management With average hog manure composition around 97% water and with land application costs at a cent and a half per gallon, water significantly impacts the economics of manure. Keeping extra water out of manure
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