Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan

I just finished my final exam for a class I took in Comprehensive Nutrient Management Planning (CNMP).  The final exam was a plan that covered a dairy farm and 2 fields totaling 48 acres or so.  The CNMP's are written to help livestock farmers make decisions about facilities management and manure management.   They are required to be in writing for CAFO's (Confined Animal Feeding Operations with over 1000 animal units.  Smaller producers must still follow all the rules, but the pans do not need to be in writing unless they want USDA cost sharing to make improvements to the operation.

The plan I wrote was 40 pages long.  Who reads this stuff?  NRCS has invented a Producer Activity Document that is only 13 pages long.  It is supposed to be for the producer.  13 pages?  Still too long in my mind.   I have condensed it down to 2 pages for my customers in the past.  One sheet shows how much manure to apply to which fields and when.  The other sheet shows how much fertilizer to apply to which fields and when.  To me the most important part of the plan is keeping soil test p to date to make sure that nutrients are not over applied.  Controlling soil loss is also an important part of nutrient management. 

In addition to the effort required to produce the long document, I am concerned that a producer could hold me liable if he thinks he is doing what I told him to do and he creates some sort of spill or other environmental disaster.   I am not sure that I will ever do another plan like this as a consultant.