There is no shortage of manure on a horse farm. We’re simply rich with the stuff. And whether our farm is large or small, we need to have a plan for what to do with the seemingly endless supply of often-odiferous waste.

The typical 1,000-pound horse produces about 50 pounds of manure per day, or 8 to 9 tons of manure per year. Some of the options for disposal include stockpiling (for later spreading), composting, hauling it to local landfills (if allowed), or selling/giving it to people for fertilizer.

Betsy Greene, PhD, associate professor and extension equine specialist at the University of Vermont, says if you are storing or composting manure, it should be done properly. “For example, in Vermont there are AAPs (Accepted Agricultural Practices), and these can be viewed on www.vermont agriculture.com (search AAP),” she says. “In Vermont, manure piles can’t be within 100 feet of a private well, or stacked in the field within 100 feet of any surface water, or on any land that is subject to overflow or runoff.” Small acreage subdivisions might also have covenants that restrict spreading of manure