Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Rutgers Equine Science Center have published the eagerly awaited “Agricultural Management Practices for Commercial Equine Operations.”

Considered to be the first comprehensive set of guidelines in the U.S. for horse operations, the document is posted at www.rce.rutgers.edu and www.esc.rutgers.edu. The public is invited to download it and print it from either of these websites.

Topics covered in the bulletin include farm stocking rates, pasture management, fencing, shelter, manure management, riding and training arenas, and equine activities and special events. Within these headings is important information concerning rotational grazing, soil-testing, manure storage and disposal, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), dust control and other operational issues.

The bulletin is the work of more than a dozen faculty and staff of Cook College, the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and Rutgers Cooperative Extension, all units of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Also participating in the project were individuals from the horse industry, the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rutgers Equine Science Center collaborated in the project and is actively promoting public awareness of the guidelines