First DelCo Custom Manure Service Enters Second Operational Year - Soil & Water Receives $2.8 Million Grant

DELHI - The Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Agricultural Team Leader, Paul Cerosaletti, presented achievements and goals of the enhanced manure management project after its first year in operation to Delaware County supervisors on April 8th.

Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) previously received over $2 million in Conservation Innovation Grants from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The district partnered with CCE and several other organizations to address manure management on local farms.

A major project goal was to develop a custom manure service, which did not exist in Delaware County. Owners of Albano Farms in Stamford have invested nearly $1 million in equipment expenses to begin operations of Albano’s Precision Application. The service uses liquid manure injection to evenly apply manure across a field, in accordance with predefined recommendations from CCE and SWCD.

In 2025, 15 farm storage facilities were emptied and applied to 23 different farms across the county, Cerosaletti reported. That calculates to roughly 14,842,000 gallons of liquid manure injected over 2,344 acres. Cerosaletti said the program has already surpassed its 2025 goals, covering 3,529 acres to date.

The disc-coulter technology injects manure directly into the soil roughly three to six inches below ground, reducing the risk of nutrient loss. Cerosaletti said the nutrients saved will help participating farmers save roughly $200,000 or more on manure costs in 2026.

“We quickly made the connection that injection on sod and or growing crops has an additional benefit of not just avoiding runoff and nutrient runoff loss on the fields, it also captures greenhouse gases,” added Graydon Dutcher, SWCD stream program coordinator.

SWCD was awarded a second Conservation Innovation Grant of roughly $2.8 million to continue the program beyond its original three-year timeline.

“$2.865 million for our farmers to continue a program as successful as this, not only environmentally benefits-wise but greenhouse gasses, capturing a whole host of benefits. One act through a very well-organized application of manure is amazing and the fact that we are getting this much money in Delaware County speaks volumes,” Dutcher concluded.  

In other business, supervisors voted to proceed with the completion of the reclamation of landfill cell 1 and awarded the $3.8 million bid to ZMK Construction Inc. The project required roughly 250,000 cubic yards of waste from the five-acre cell to be moved for new liners to be placed, which are up to code. The original cell had an unlined bottom; the reclamation will bring the area up to Department of Environmental Conservation standards, said James Thomas, commissioner of public works.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled Wednesday, April 22, at 1 p.m.