University Park, Pa. -- Research and practices for Pennsylvania's animal agricultural operations and best protection of air and water quality are the focus of the weekly "Manure du Jour: Serving Pennsylvania's Best Practices on Animal Ag, Water, and Air Quality" webinar series being held from Feb. 18 to April 23.
The series 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 (PSCC), and guests from Virginia Tech, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and others.
"Manure du Jour" is an educational program designed for practitioners in county conservation district and extension offices, as well as for NRCS, PSCC and personnel from the PA departments of agriculture and environmental protection. The webinar also is open to producers, agencies, consultants, agribusiness and others. An online question and answer period will take place each week following the speaker presentations to enable participate to interact with the featured experts.
To access the webinar, participants should have high-speed internet access and a Friends of Penn State (FPS) account, which can be obtained for free at http://fops.psu.edu/ online.
A few minutes prior to each 1:30 p.m. Manure Du Jour session, participants should visit http://breeze.psu.edu/AgEnvPartnership online and enter their FPS user ID and password. To ensure that they have audio, participants should go to the "Meeting" tab at the top left and choose "Manage My Settings." Then choose "Audio Setup Wizard" and test your sound input by clicking on "Test." A microphone will not be needed by webinar participants.
All webinars will take place from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Feb. 18: "Science and Practice in Erosion and Sediment Control for Farm Lanes," David Creamer and Steve Blosser, PA Dirt and Gravel Road Center; Kristen Saacke Blunk, Penn State Ag and Environment Center (moderator).
Feb. 25: "Decision Support Tools - Using GIS for Environmental Adaptive Management," Rick Day, Penn State Land and Water Analysis Laboratory in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, with introduction by Doug Beegle, also of Crop and Soil Sciences.
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 vs. 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," Rick Steuhower, Crop and Soil Sciences; Scott Van de Mark, Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
March 25: "Movement of Estrogen Through the Water Environment and Prevention of Rx Releases," Jack Watson, Crop and Soil Sciences; Jim Clark, McKean/Potter County Extension; Deno De Ciantis, Penn State Center in Pittsburg (moderator).
April 1: "Demystifying the TMDL: State and Federal," Brian Benham, Virginia Tech Center for TMDLs and Watershed Studies; Denice Wardrop, Geography.
April 8: "The Science Behind Forested Riparian Buffers: Why They're the Best of the Good, Better, Best," presenters to be announced.
April 15: "Innovative Technologies for Manure Application and Manure Expo 2010 Preview," Peter Kleinman, USDA ARS; Robb Meinen, Dairy and Animal Science
April 22: "BMPs and Environmental Stewardship on Equine Operation," Ann Swinker, Dairy and Animal Sciences; Donna Foulk.