Researchers from four universities are teaming up with dairy farms across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to study the impact of manure management practices on antibiotic resistance. The $1 million project, funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will evaluate antibiotic-resistant bugs in dairy cow manure, how they survive treatment systems and whether any residuals end up on farm fields. Although there is no direct evidence of resistance spreading from antibiotic use on dairy farms, USDA is funding the research because of the potential risk. A team of scientists will evaluate how well three different waste-processing techniques — anaerobic digestion, composting, and long-term storage — remove drugs and germs in mannure.