Accidental manure spills happen. The difference between being the lead story on the 6 o’clock news or it being a minor incident can depend on what you or your employees do in the first critical minutes.

A great analogy is how your local volunteer fire department responds to a barn fire.

1. They are trained to deal with a wide variety of situations, so when they arrive they know what to do instead of reacting without thinking.  
2. They know not to make rash decisions and rush into a situation but, upon arrival, quickly assess what is happening, determine their first steps and act to protect what is most important (buildings and/or human life).
3. They have a limited set of tools and equipment on the truck but know where to quickly get more or other equipment (other fire departments for firefighters and water hauling, backhoes to bring down walls).
4. They set a safety perimeter to keep curious neighbors away.
5. They remain on site until the situation is completely under control and the fire is out.

As a dairy producer, you should be taking a similar approach to preparing for a manure incident or spill. Having a written, documented spill response strategy or plan will make it much easier for you and your employees or neighbors to keep a small spill from becoming a large one, and you can base it off the fire department approach.

The typical steps within a spill response plan include:

1. Control the spill. Shut the valve; close the spreader apron to keep it from getting larger.
2. Notify your supervisor. Let them know what is going on and what help you need.
3. Contain the spill. Till the soil to slow the spread; dump soil in the road ditch.
4. Contact the appropriate authorities. Report the spill as required by law.
5. Clean up the spill and restore the site.
6. Document your actions.  

A manure tanker overturns, resulting in a manure spill. Photo by Brian Hanson, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Know your risks

Fire departments train for various situations (i.e., house fire, field fire, fuel tanker fire) because they know what they typically might encounter. For dairy producers, think about the most common reasons and locations where a manure spill or incident might occur and what the impact might be.

If you are moving manure in a tanker, getting too far off on the shoulder or taking a field driveway too tight can cause a tip-over. If you use a dragline, coupling failures are common. If you have storage, a valve can fail or a leak can occur. If your field is tiled, manure can get into the drain tile. For each risk, create a short list of what might go wrong, what might be impacted (i.e., stream, road ditch, wetland, field, neighbor’s yard) and what you should do when it happens. This list can be used when explaining the plan to your employees. This is also a great opportunity to talk about doing the little things to prevent problems such as inspecting couplings and fittings, driving at safe speeds and watching for problems as the manure is applied.

Many incidents are human error – starting to spread too close to the field edge and covering part of the neighbor’s yard can happen. More common than you think is bumping the switch and accidentally opening the valve going down the road.

A dam is created to stop the manure spill from spreading. Photo by Brian Hanson, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Have a plan that takes the heat out of the moment

Being able to follow step-by-step instructions and/or having everything you need in one place greatly reduces stress and emotion of an already emotionally charged situation, and reduces the chance of making a situation worse by making a simple mistake.

For each of the risks, list out what tools you might need and where to find them. Where is the chisel plow to stop the flow? The skid steer or payloader to create a dam? For what you do not have, write down a list of phone numbers where you can find them (i.e., septic/vacuum truck, payloader).

At a farm tour in Minnesota, there was a rusted chisel plow sitting next to the manure storage, but every other piece of equipment on the farm had no rust and was under a roof. The dairyman’s story was that the manure storage had begun leaking. The tillage equipment he needed to stop the flow before it got to the stream was at the far corner of the shed, and he had to move nine pieces of equipment to get to it. The next Saturday, he bought a chisel at an auction, and it is always in the open and ready to be used.   

Put the plan where everyone knows where it is

Best is to have it online in a Google drive so everyone can pull it up quickly on their device instead of driving back to the shop or office to get it. Avoid three-ring binders. The size of the plan is not important. Some of the best plans are only two pages. Some people will include a few extra maps showing field locations and road names, but most people can find that information on their smartphone.

A manure spill is cleaned up after a barrier is created to prevent the spill from spreading. Photo by Tony Reali, Calumet County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Empower your employees

Just like the fire chief directs the team (or multiple departments for a large fire), your employees and family members are going to look to you to make decisions. A spill plan is a roadmap to make sure you have that outline of what to do.  

But what happens if you are at your daughter’s basketball game or at the auction? Make sure your team knows you will have their back. If something happens, they should not only be able to quickly locate and follow the plan, but do it confidently and not worry if their decisions will be second-guessed.

Returning to our idea of following a fire department approach, keep these things in mind when dealing with a manure spill:

1. Control the incident and the message. Just like the fire department’s incident commander, one person should be guiding everyone’s actions and answering questions. Designate one person to answer questions from neighbors and media. That same person should be the one reporting the spill to the appropriate authorities. Likewise, keep bystanders (and well-meaning neighbors) a safe distance back. Employees and family members should memorize this phase, “Here’s the phone number of (name), the person in charge. Talk to them.” Having one person who speaks to anyone concerned prevents misunderstanding and helps you control the message.
   
   
2. Do not leave the site until everything is cleaned up and equipment removed. Just like the fire department stays until all hot spots are cold, you should have one person visible at the site until the cleanup is complete. It is very easy for a photo of a spill or tanker tip-over to go viral on local social media with the message, “They spilled and aren’t doing anything about it.” Documentation is vital. Using the cellphone on your camera, take photos showing what happened but, more importantly, the steps your farm took to clean up and restore the site.
   
   
3. Share the plan. Once you have your spill plan put together, grill some burgers or order a pizza for the team, and spend an hour or so going over the plan and what you expect. Pick a few spill photos from the internet (or this article) and ask them, “What would you do if this happened on our farm?” This should be done at least once per year; many farms do it in the spring and fall before the busy season. A manure spill is the result of an overturned manure tanker. Photo by Bethani Chambers, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Your number one priority with the plan is to ensure the safety of your family, employees and neighbors. If a tractor tips over, make sure the driver and anyone else involved is safe before addressing any environmental considerations.

Remember that each situation is unique. If taking time to call the supervisor means manure will move into the neighbor’s yard, contain the spill first, then make the call. Likewise, if you have a problem neighbor, it may be better to report it as soon as possible.

There are a variety of manure spill response templates available to download. Take the time to look at a few and choose one that meets your needs or create your own.