Homegrown Iowa: Manure is Better for Water Quality and Soil Health

Ever heard of the illusory truth effect? It’s the idea that if you repeat a false claim often enough, people will slowly start to believe it’s true.

As pig farmers—or just about any farmer, nowadays—oftentimes its common to see a small group of people begin a drumbeat filled with falsehoods. They chant it over and over, louder and louder, to the point where people may begin believing it.

This may be why, when you hear that pig manure actually improves soil health and better protects water quality, you may think, “Impossible!”

Yet numerous studies confirm that when farmers switch to swine manure as their crop fertilizer, it’s better for the soil, and better safeguards Iowa’s water sources from nutrient run-off. Here’s how: 

· Manure increases the amount of water soil can hold, which reduces nutrient run-off

· Manure better restores the health of the soil by increasing organic matter

· Continued use of manure helps build up soil health even more

· Using manure as a crop fertilizer, along with injecting manure, is a key part of Iowa’s overall effort to reduce nutrient loss into water sources

We invite you to learn the seven ways manure builds the soil and better protects against nutrient run-off by reading the January issue of Homegrown Iowa here. 

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