Source: NC PORK COUNCIL, 12/11/15

The Division of Water Resources has been working in cooperation with other agencies and the 1217 Interagency Committee to identify opportunities for relief in consideration of the extended heavy rainfall and the anticipated wet winter.
The Department of Water Quality (formerly DENR) has granted a small grain overseed variance for 2015-16.

Please consult this memo outlining the allowance of a ONE YEAR modification to the PAN rate for small grain overseed on Bermudagrass hayfields and pastures. The details can also be found here:

• Have a Certified Tech Specialist document the temporary modification in the Waste Plan and keep it in your records!
• Must certify that the winter annual forage has been properly sown and has emerged.
• Bermudagrass fields with winter annual forage that has a 50 lb/acre rate can go to a 100 lb/acre rate for this winter season only.
• The split window normally required for 100 lb/acre PAN will be waived under the following limitations: 
• PAN applied during the two month period of December and January will be limited to 25 lb/acre
• PAN applied after February 29 must be charged to the PAN rate for the Bermudagrass application PAN rate.
• The winter annual crop must be adequately grazed or mechanically harvested by April 15.

Inspectors will be reviewing records for proper modification documentation, application records, and the required crop removal records.

Facilities with other cropping systems or with other modification requests should consult with a Regional Agronomist or a Certified Crop Advisor.

Also, for your information, here is a memo from  Tim Hall, NCDA&CS Regional Agronomist on this variance.

Ms. Christine B. Lawson
Program Manager
Animal Feeding Operations Program
Department of Environmental Quality
1636 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1636
November 25, 2015

Dear Ms. Lawson,
Regarding the request for recommendations to assist swine farms in managing the recent heavy fall rains which have substantially lagoon levels, we have discussed via telephone and more generally in the SB1217 Interagency Workgroup some ways that certain farms could receive some one-year blanket relief from NCDENR-DWR. Below are some recommendations which I feel will assist while maintaining the agronomic soundness of Realist Yield Expectation based nutrient management.

These recommendations will assist both those farms which currently apply swine lagoon effluent to bermudagrass hayfields oversown with a winter annual forage, at the 100 lb/A PAN rate under limited application windows, and those which apply effluent to hayfields and pastures utilizing the 50 lb/A PAN rate on the oversown winter annual crop. Farms operating under both systems may elect to accept the terms applied for the blanket permission or may remain under the currently prescribed management.

1) Farms which choose to operate under this one-year variance are certifying that the winter annual forage has been properly sown and has come up.
2) Farms will be allowed to convert for one winter from the 50 lb/A PAN rate to the 100 lb/A PAN rate.
3) The split application window normally required for the 100 lb/A PAN rate will be waived under the following limitations:
a. PAN applied during the two-month period of December and January will be limited to 25 lb/A
b. PAN applied after February 29 shall be charged against the PAN rate allowed for the bermudagrass component of the system.
4) The winter annual component must be adequately grazed or mechanically harvested by April 15 in order to minimize suppressive effects on the bermudagrass component of the system. For this one year, farms which are normally required to harvest the winter annual forage mechanically, may elect to remove that cover by grazing with livestock.

If we assume that the OIC has already applied a standard allowance of 50 lb/A PAN, then by January 31, an additional 25 lb/A PAN could be applied. At an assumed concentration of 2 lb PAN per 1000 gallons effluent, that would equal only about one-half acre-inch of effluent. Although December and January are not months when high N uptake would be expected, 25 lb/A is a modest amount, and would be allowable under the 50 lb limited system. Further, in wet soil conditions, I would expect denitrification to be a significant factor in maintaining the environmental integrity of this relief recommendation.

After January 31, the OIC could apply an additional 25 lb/A PAN to the oversown winter annual; however, to keep the distribution favoring the winter annual for this rate, and to avert possible competitive suppression consequences to the bermudagrass stand, I feel that PAN applied after February 29 should be charged against the allowed rate for the bermudagrass component of the system. Additionally, it should be a compliance requirement for this option that the OIC agrees to either graze or harvest the winter annual to a non-competitive height by April 15. In systems managed for hay that may entail harvesting and immediately feeding green forage, or preserving the forage as wrapped baleage, since it is difficult to dry hay in early April. I recommend that under this one-year deviation grazing be permitted on systems accepting the blanket terms in order to treat systems fairly and to enhance protection of bermudagrass stands from the competitive effects resulting from higher PAN rates on the winter annual.

I am comfortable with these recommendations from an environmental and agronomic standpoint. I am not confident that they will provide the extent of relief that some farms will need from the excess rainfall situation. I hope these will be of help to you as you decide a course of action from the regulatory side.

Tim Hall
Regional Agronomist
NCDA&CS