Delaware County project won federal and state funding to expand precision manure application

Delaware County officials on the floor received detailed briefings on a multiagency manure‑management pilot that uses custom services and precision injection technology to reduce nutrient loss, improve farm economics and cut odors in farm communities. The project, led by the Delaware County Soil & Water Conservation District and Cornell Cooperative Extension, won a federal Conservation Innovation Grant of about $2.95 million to fund custom manure application, enhanced manure management and research, education and demonstration.

The project team said the custom‑service model makes expensive precision equipment available to many small farms by investing once in an operator that serves multiple farms. Paul Sarahi of Cornell Cooperative Extension said the award "put together a large grant, $2.95 million of federal funds" to USDA NRCS at the national level and that the Soil & Water Conservation District was the grant recipient.

Why it matters: presenters said precision injection can conserve fertilizer value, lower odor and reduce runoff. In year one the partners worked with about 23 farms, applying roughly 14.8 million gallons of liquid manure and about 7,100 tons of semi‑solid manure across more than 2,300 acres. Sarahi said the injection approach conserved about 57 pounds of nitrogen per acre on average, which the team valued at nearly $100,000 in fertilizer savings in the first year; with higher fertilizer prices and expanded application this year Sarahi said the conserved value could reach about $200,000 or more.

How it works: project partners produce a field‑level "manure prescription" generated by nutrient management planners, upload it to a cloud platform owned by the district, and deliver prescriptions to tractors equipped with cellular modems and display units. The contractor, Albano's Precision Application of Stanford, N.Y., was selected through an RFP and has invested "over a million dollars" in equipment for the work, presenters said. Albano's owner Frank Albano told the board the operation is smoothing startup issues and has already put substantial volumes on fields this season: "They've already, as of last night, put 1.2 million gallons of liquid manure on farms already."

Funding and incentives: through the federal grant the project provided more than $500,000 in incentives to participating farms to offset adoption costs; presenters also announced a separate New York State award described to the board as roughly $2.865 million from the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee to continue and expand the work statewide demonstration and supporting equipment purchases.

Outcomes and next steps: presenters reported that the program emptied 15 manure storages in year one (three more than once), held four education events with more than 277 attendees, funded university research with Cornell (including a graduate student), and is entering year two with increased commitments: more than 23 million gallons of liquid manure and roughly 3,500 acres currently committed. The district plans additional demonstrations (including an Oxbow self‑propelled spreader delivered for hands‑on trials) and continued monitoring and outreach.

The presentation credited multiple partners — the Delaware County Soil & Water Conservation District, Cornell Cooperative Extension and Prodairy, Albano's Precision Application, Salem Farm Supply, NRCS, Virginia Tech (watershed modeling) and county staff — and closed with recognition of the Albano family and project staff. The board did not take formal action on the program during the meeting; presenters said the project is in year two and continuing implementation.