FEBRUARY 2000 VOL. 1, NO. 2
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February 2000 Vol. 1, No. 2
DELAWARE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT NOTES
"Animal Units"
WHAT IS AN ANIMAL UNIT?
· The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) defines an animal unit (AU) as an "average" live body weight equal to 1000 lbs.
· Each kind and class of poultry or livestock has AU equivalents based on "average" body weight. Several examples of AU equivalents are provided on the next page of this newsletter.
WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ANIMAL UNITS?
· The Delaware Nutrient Management Act states that all animal feeding operations (AFO) having in excess of 8 AU must have a nutrient management plan or an animal waste management plan. A nutrient management plan must be developed by a person certified under the authority of the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission. For an AFO where the animal waste is not applied to the generator's land, the operator may substitute an animal waste management plan for a nutrient management plan.
· Animal units also are used to identify concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) under Section 402 of the Clean Water Act. However, when used to identify CAFOs, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) definition of an AU may differ from NRCS standards. This means that the information in this Note should be used only to identify those AFOs that meet the 8 animal unit minimum and must comply with the Delaware Nutrient Management Act. Details on CAFOs will be the subject of a future Delaware Nutrient Management Note.
HOW CAN I DETERMINE IF MY OPERATION FALLS UNDER THE DELAWARE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ACT?
· To calculate the eight AU standard under the Act, simply divide the AU equivalent (see table on page 2) into a factor of 8. The following is an example for determining 8 AU for a broiler operation; 8 divided by 0.0025 (AU equivalent factor for broilers) equals 3,200 broilers. Therefore, broiler operations with more than 3,200 birds must comply with the Delaware Nutrient Management Act.
· Keep in mind that if you have more than one animal species on a farm, you will need to add them all together to determine if your operation is subject to the Nutrient Management Act. For example, the following calculations would apply to an operation with two saddle horses (2 x 1.25 = 2.5), one colt (1 x .5 = .5), two mature beef cattle (2 x 1 = 2), and one goat (1 x .17 = .17). Since the sum of the AU is 5.17 (2.5 + .5 + 2 + .17) this operation does not meet the 8 AU requirement of the Act.
· The following are examples of AU equivalents and the calculated value of the 8 AU minimal requirements for various species.
KIND & CLASS OF LIVESTOCK AU EQUIVALENTS NO. ANIMALS EQUIVALENT TO 8 AU*
· Beef Cattle
Mature bull (>1700 lbs.) 1.5 6
Mature cow (1000 lbs.) 1 8
Calves (450 lbs.) 0.5 16
· Dairy Cattle
Holstein bull 1.9 5
Holstein cow 1.5 6
· Equine
Work horse (mature) 2 4
Saddle horse (mature) 1.25 7
Colt (< 2 yrs.) 0.5 16
· Swine
Boar 0.5 16
Brood Sow 0.25 32
Feeder pigs (100 lbs.) 0.05 160
· Sheep and Goats
Sheep (mature) 0.2 40
Goat (mature) 0.17 48
· Poultry
Roaster 0.004 2000
Broiler 0.0025 3200
Cornish 0.0015 5334
*If your AFO has more than 8 AU in any one class of livestock, or has a total of more than 8 AU for multiple
species, you will be required to comply with the Delaware Nutrient Management Act. For more detailed informa-
tion on AU, you can call the Delaware Department of Agriculture at 800-282-8685.
Nutrient management plans, animal waste management plans, and records of implementation "...shall not be considered as public records under the Freedom of Information Act and shall not be disclosed for reasons other than compilation." These records, however, shall be available for inspection by the Delaware Department of Agriculture and the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission.
Cooperative Extension Education in Agriculture and Home Economics, University of Delaware, Delaware State University and the United States Department of Agriculture cooperating. John C. Nye, Dean and Director. Distributed in furtherance of Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. It is the policy of the Delaware Cooperative Extension System that no person shall be subjected to discrimination on the grounds of race, color, sex, disability, age or national origin.
