As the farm increase their production, in many cases the manure produced will exceed the capacity of their landbase to receive it without causing environmental concerns. Guidelines on the livestock densities per acre (5 sows or 4 feeder hogs / acre which represents 12 sows or 10 feeder hogs / ha) are presented and when the density of 1 livestock unit / acre or 2.5 livestock units /ha is exceeded, a nutrient management plan should be realized in order to determined if higher levels of manure can be applied safely. In cases where the livestock density exceed the value presented and a nutrient management plan show that the manure produced exceed all the crops and soil needs, further steps have to be taken to handle the excess manure properly and some alternatives have to be studied and a selection can be made between different alternatives. 1. to reduce the amount of manure nutrient that have to be handle (by improved nutrient conversion from the feed given to the animals, or by reducing the number of animal units on the farm, or by removing nutrients in the manure (treatments)); 2. to apply more manure on the same land using a nutrient management plan (by reducing the use of commercial fertilizer, by reducing the use of organic nutrient sources, by increasing the crop uptake or nutrients (crop rotations), by allowing nutrients buildup in the soils, by improving the absorbing ability of the soil); 3. to increase the land surface available for manure spreading (by purchasing of more land on the same or a different property deed, by renting land on a long or short-term lease, or by manure application agreement); 3. to increase the accessibility of the landbase for manure application (by using different spreading techniques and equipment that allow longer period for manure spreading); 4. to treat the manure (by separation, by composting, by odour reduction that can allow for manure spreading closer to residences, by increasing nutrient concentration that would lower the volumes that have to be handle). Proper planning has to be realized before construction or expansion is realized in order to evaluate the landbase availability.
Some of the solutions presented such as nutrient buildup should not be included as it is a very short-term solution that is not environmentally sustainable. Such buildup can result in environmental consequences and a reduction of the land available for manure spreading on a mid to long-term basis.