The dairy waste storage pond should be fenced and posted to keep young children, livestock, and other unauthorized visitors away. Pond banks should be seeded or sodded with a good grass cover to prevent soil erosion. This area should be mowed regularly to control grass and weed growth. If mosquitoes become a problem, contact your county Extension agent for control methods. Human waste should not be added to the dairy waste pond.
Storage pond pumpout must be carried out within the planned storage period. Pumpout should be started in time to insure that space is available to hold the 25-year-24-hour rainstorm. Waste irrigation equipment or tank wagons and specially designed pumps must be available, with tractors large enough to handle the horsepower requirements. Both agitation before pumpout and manure solids handling pumps matched to either the slurry irrigation system or "honey wagon" transfer tank are critical to successful waste storage pond pumpout. For more information on these subjects, see Extension Circular ANR-953, "Renovating Livestock Lagoons Using Irrigation."
Irrigating with dairy slurry or wastewater calls for special equipment designed to handle both the high solids content and high fertilizer content of the waste. Careful consideration must be given to matching irrigation application amount and nutrient content to crop soil tests. For more information on land applying dairy waste storage pond contents refer to Extension Circular ANR-925, "Calibrating Traveling Guns For Slurry Irrigation."