While animal manure can be a valuable source of nutrients for plants and organic matter for the soil, it has some potential downsides, most notably that the nutrient ratio is fixed. Follow these tips from the University of Minnesota to minimize excess phosphorus build-up from manure.

Careful manure management is a principle of farm profitability and environmental stewardship. Applying manure to land that has a cover crop is another practice that can help with nitrogen management.

Most manure nutrients can be managed successfully with traditional soil analysis, but nitrogen in manure requires some simple advance planning to insure it's given proper credit for offsetting commercial fertilizer inputs, says University of Nebraska Extension.

Applying manure this spring? Start planning now.

Winter is not the best time to apply manure and should be a last choice, but if you must make an application, follow these tips and regulations, provided by Penn State Extension.