Land use change and collaborative manureshed management in New Mexico

Abstract

Agricultural communities of New Mexico regularly redistribute manure nutrients from dairies to nearby croplands to fulfill agronomic nutrient needs and protect water quality. Yet competition for water resources can result in land use change that impacts these cooperative manure transfers. Focusing on three clusters of New Mexico dairy farms and their surrounding lands -three manuresheds -we calculated the magnitude of land use changes in 2008-2019 and the balance between manure nutrient supply and crop demand in 2019, to assess how past change may predict future prospects for sustainable management. The overall magnitude of change was small, with each manureshed experiencing a different complement: an exchange of cropland and rangeland in the Roosevelt manureshed (7975 ha rangeland to cropland; 7624 ha cropland to rangeland), a 464-ha gain in cropland yet 1187-ha loss of "spreadable" land (cropland, rangeland, fallow) to developed land in the Doña Ana manureshed, and relatively minor changes in the Chaves manureshed. Nutrient supply and demand were mainly in balance, but a surplus of manure phosphorus (P) in the Chaves manureshed and a thin margin of P assimilation by croplands in the Roosevelt manureshed point to the need for preserving existing croplands and understanding of effects of dairy manure on shortgrass rangeland. Our assessment suggests that an ideal scenario would entail manure being generated in landscapes with portfolios of productive lands that can sustainably use the manure nutrients, to minimize both environmental quality concerns and agronomic tradeoffs. Coordinated, participatory, and interdisciplinary research and planning are needed.

Challenges and opportunities for manureshed management across U.S. dairy systems: Case studies from four regions

“…Spiegal et al. (2022) quantified the potential effect of declining agricultural land availability on manuresheds surrounding three major clusters of dairies (Doña Ana County, Chaves County, and Roosevelt County/Curry County). Gradual loss of cropland may serve as a long‐term limit to manure transfers from dairies to agricultural lands in New Mexico.…”

The social networks of manureshed management

“…(b) A dairy manureshed in New Mexico including crop/forage land where dairy manure could be exported and urban development that could hinder land application. White dots are dairy farms nested in or near areas of crop/forage production (green), whereas urban zones where neighborhood sensitivities to manure are a concern are depicted in red (Spiegal et al., 2021)…”

“…Manureshed management at regional scales involves many of the same actors as the local scale; however, the burden of forming connections across nutrient surplus and deficit areas falls primarily upon manure processors (e.g., composting, pelletizing), manure haulers/brokers, and contract manure applicators (black lines in Figure 3a) (Dell et al, 2022;Meinen et al, 2020;Spiegal et al, 2021). The extent and arrangement of residential or commercial land in the region limits the area available for manure application (Figure 3b).…”

“…To differentiate our aim, we propose “collaborative manureshed management” (terminology introduced in Spiegal et al. [2021]) as a form of cross‐boundary collaboration between livestock and cropping system operations that often necessitates effective interaction between diverse, and sometimes geographically distant, actors.…”

Recycling nutrients in the beef supply chain through circular manuresheds: Data to assess tradeoffs

“…Successful circular manuresheds require substantial initial investments to transform existing management practices, trade structures, and social networks, with coordinated and collaborative efforts beyond any one animal or feed producer (Kleinman et al., 2019; Meredith, Spiegal, Kleinman, & Harmel, 2022; Sharara et al., 2022; Spiegal et al., 2021). Weighing tradeoffs among different types of sustainability goals (production, environmental, socioeconomic) is essential to predict returns on such investments (Harrison et al., 2021).…”