SAM Initiative: Achieving Subsurface Application of Manures in the Chesapeake Bay Basin

The proposed project will seek to improve upon existing technology to achieve efficient sub-surface applications of solid and semi-solid to significantly reduce runoff and volatilization of nutrients. Modification of two to four “Subsurfer” units will be carried out at the University of Kentucky and University of Delaware. Subsurfer units will be delivered to the machine shop and technicians from the University of Delaware and University of Kentucky will make structural modifications to the units to accommodate changes such as increasing the size of the hopper, increasing the tongue length, attaching a ladder for safe access to the hopper, and modifying the augers. Design modifications will be evaluated systematically to determine overall benefit. The final design will likely be a hybrid resulting from the iterative process of testing each modification individually. In addition, University of Kentucky and Delaware personnel will provide expertise gained from extensive experience with existing manure injection and Subsurfer technology to help in design and construction of the new “air-seeder” type manure injector that will be developed by Oklahoma State University personnel. The resulting prototypes will then be extensively tested with farmer cooperators as detailed below.