Stampede knows manure happens

The animal husbandry of the Calgary Stampede is a scientific business.

The Stampede hosts some of the world’s most valuable farming and ranching livestock.

Each highly bred animal — dairy cow, great draft horse and bull — needs the richest, most nutritious food.

The gentle giant horse lives to pull anything to do with feeding cows — hay, sacks of grain, cereals, and tillage machines.

The bull contains more raw power than any Stampede visitor and he spends his days plotting the next belly roll, kick, twist or spin to unseat the cowboy who dares ride him.

Then there’s Heidi, a Holstein cow and cousin to 95% of Canada’s dairy herd.

She is drop-dead gorgeous — smoky caramel complexion, round, dark eyes with long lashes, medium heels, slender legs, perfect shape, and about a 118 WW cup. She wears an adorable cowbell.

Heidi may yield her own weight in milk. That’s twice what she gave when man first landed on the moon.

Like the rest of the animals, Heidi lives in a well-ventilated barn with food brought in by the tractor load.

All that livestock, feeding upwards of 10 hours a day all in one place also produce lots and lots of manure.

It is a big issue. While some may love the rich smell of animal manure, others object.

Like all prudent Alberta ranchers and farmers, the Stampede launched its version of the “manure initiative” to solve these challenges in a scientifically sound, environmentally sustainable, and economically feasible manner.

In the past, when the livestock slept on straw, manure was a solid fertilizer and soil conditioner. Today, the Stampede’s guest bovines sleep on sawdust or a rubber mattress. Manure is viscous. Chain-driven squeegees clean the barns into a holding pit. Large volumes of water are added, which keep the cows and buildings clean, and the equipment sanitary.

Pumps readily remove today’s slurry.

Heidi may produce 10,000 gallons of it every year and heavy horses expel many times that amount.

This slurry is a rich fertilizer — so rich, very little commercial fertilizer is needed by those fortunate enough to get it. They know slurry is tricky to use wisely and, alas, already more than a little manure has hit the environmental fan.

Too much liquid applied to too little land simply runs off into the nearby streams. Once in a stream, the excess nutrients cause unwanted plant growth, kill fish, and make the water downstream undrinkable.

Equally, if there isn’t enough of a crop to seize onto the nutrients, these valuable elements can be rinsed away and are lost to future plant use.

Thus, farmers follow three basic rules for manure spreading: Don’t apply manure when it can run off into the rivers or waterways, don’t apply manure so close to the water that pollution is inevitable, and make good use of manure because it is a valuable nutrient.

This tough stance seems reasonable.

However, in Alberta’s dairy and ranching country it is also very costly.

In winter, the province’s farmland is frozen, so it cannot soak up more liquid and run-off is inevitable. Perhaps the new winter activities will involve the production of cow patties as an alternative source of energy.

In summary, the Calgary Stampede’s organizers are willing to spend large sums of money to protect the animals in their care.

Probably not many people know the lengths and costs they go to, as stewards of the environment.

Surely, that deserves your applause.