Before planting every year, your nutrient management plan needs some tender love and care. It is important to remember that a nutrient management plan is not stagnant. It is a living document that is constantly changing with your farming operation. Since it is constantly changing, it is important to update annually, revising last season’s information and inputting the upcoming growing season’s information.
Here are some steps to take in reviewing and revising your plan:
1. Look at last season’s information and make edits to things that changed during the last year.
For example, if you were planning on planting corn but ended up planting soybeans, update the information to show what actually happened in that field. If updating your plan causes there to be over applications, write notes in the nutrient application planner explaining the situation for over application.
2. Start planning for the upcoming cropping season.
Take a look at soil samples and determine if new soil samples need to be taken. Remember, soil samples need to be pulled once every four years, and one soil sample is required for every five acres. A quick way to check if you need to pull soil samples is to run the FM6 Soil Test Summary Report. Make sure to check the box to include year soil test is needed. This report will tell you how many samples you need to have for each field and the crop year that soil test is needed. If you are going to be operating on new fields in the 2023, now is the time to be making sure you have soil test results for those fields!
3. Add new fields and delete old fields in your plan.
If you have new fields to add or old fields that you are no longer running, it is important to update those changes accordingly in your plan. In the fields tab, you can mark fields as inactive. By marking a field as inactive, you will no longer be required to have a plan for those acres. Marking a field inactive does not delete the field from your plan. The data associated with that field is still there and can be reactivated. In SnapMaps, you can update field boundaries and document conduits to groundwater and other features.
4. Input or verify cropping information for the 2023 growing season.
While plans change, it is still important to have a tentative plan to determine crop needs. It is important to capture your cropping rotation within your nutrient management plan. The SnapPlus program utilizes inputted information to run the RUSLE 2 soil loss equation and Phosphorus Index. In order for those calculations to run and compute correctly, it is crucial that all commercial fertilizer applications and manure applications are included in the years within the set rotation.
5. Plan for manure applications.
If manure is a part of your operation, it is imperative that manure applications are included in a nutrient management plan. For example, if you plan to grow silage corn in 2023 and plan to spread manure on those fields after harvest, that manure application needs to be documented in the 2024 cropping year as a fall application. If that manure application is not included in the plan now, it could result in an over application in the 2024 season. Confirming that your nutrient management plan is as complete as possible is critical in meeting compliance on your farm.
6. Run the NM2 Compliance Check report to identify any areas within your plan that might need tweaking.
Double check that there are explanations and justifications for any compliance issue within the plan.
7. Generate, fill out, sign, and date the NM8 590 Checklist.
Take a close look at the checklist before signing off on the plan. SnapPlus does a great job of filling out most of the checklist automatically, but there are some sections that will always need to be filled out by the plan writer. Electronic signatures are allowed. If the nutrient management plan is not written by the farmer, it is important that the planner review the updated plan with the farmer and both the farmer and planner sign the NM8 590 Checklist.
8. Submit the updated nutrient management plan to your county land conservation department.
If farming on land within multiple counties, make sure to send the plan to all applicable county land conservation departments. For more information on where to send nutrient management plan updates, see the Wisconsin Land and Water Member Directory.
If you have questions while making plan updates, contact DATCP’s Training and Outreach Conservation Specialist Andrea Topper at andrea.topper@wisconsin.gov or visit DATCP’s website.
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