United States Department of Agriculture
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Manure Storage: Containing the HEAP

Assuming you have figured out your disposal strategy (or at least you are working on it), what do you do with your horse waste between disposal events? A manure storage structure or area serves as a temporary holding area until materials are removed for utilization on or off the farm.

During the storage period, storm water can come into contact with your manure pile either as precipitation on top, or as a concentrated flow of runoff moving across the landscape. It may be absorbed by the pile if conditions are very dry. Under more moist conditions, water will pass through, picking up and carrying
nutrients, pathogens, and organic particles to areas where they have potential to enter surface and ground water supplies.

How Do You Keep that HEAP from Becoming an Environmental Detriment?
  • Location – Consider proximity to property lines, wells, surface water, and ground water table when choosing a manure storage site. Locate your manure storage as far from property lines and water sources as possible. Some towns may have regulations that require minimum setbacks.
  • Keep Rain and Storm Water Runoff Out – Utilize an appropriate combination of containers, walls, diversions, and covers (tarp, roof, lid) whenever possible. Smaller piles may be adequately protected by locating them away from places where surface water flows over the ground during storm events, and by covering the pile with a tarp.
  • Size – Design an appropriate facility for the storage time period. Measure your average daily waste (manure and bedding) and multiply that volume by the number of days between planned removal for disposal, composting, or utilization. (Example: The average horse waste production (including bedding) is 2 cubic yards/month per horse. For 6 months worth of storage for one horse, you will need 12 cubic yards of storage space. One cubic yard – 27 cubic feet, so you will need 324 cubic feet, or an area roughly 9’ long x 9’ wide x 4’ deep.)

Remember to consider the type and size of equipment that will be used to remove the manure, and make the necessary accommodations in the planning/design process.

Storage Options to Consider
  • covered dumpsters
  • three-walled structure with roof or tarp cover
  • covered compost piles
  • covered or enclosed truck bed or manure spreader
  • trash cans with lids (only for facilities that produce very small quantities of waste)
Contacts

Mark Cummings - (203) 269-7509, Ext. 301
Kathleen Johnson  - (860) 626-8258, Ext. 200
Barbara Alexander - (860) 871-4046

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