Video credit: Bethany Zelt, Extension Assistant, Schmidt Research and Outreach Team

In Clay Center, NE, Walter Traudt has been farming for 25 years. Corn and soybeans are his crops of choice, but 9 years ago he went on the lookout for ways to expand his operation. Buying more ground was very expensive, but his banker brought another opportunity to his attention, one that would allow him to take 4 of the acres he already owned and convert them to a hog facility.  

Now his family’s operation finishes 3,600 pigs every 6 months. Walt considers the extra workload of a hog farmer to be the purest form of sweat equity, and he has not found himself overburdened by the additional obligations of being a hog farmer. “That’s the great thing about being a contract grower,” Walt says. “I’m not sitting here trying to buy more pigs, or trying to time when they go to market, when they bring in new ones; we’re just managing the growth of a weaned pig to a market pig. (...) We just have to take care of those pigs and help them in that journey from nursery pig to a market pig.”  

The pigs have also brought a new component for his crop operation: manure production. While skeptical at first, Walt decided to take the leap and switched to manure as the priority fertilizer for his operation to reduce his reliance on commercial fertilizer and his input costs. Fortunately, the Traudt farm has enough acres to use the manure the pigs produce; Walt estimated that he could apply 90-100% of what is produced on his own fields each year.   

Calculating the amount of manure needed per acre depends on a variety of factors. Such as the crop you are growing and the expected yield, existing soil nutrients, the type of manure you wish to use, and any other fertilizer nutrients you expect to apply. 

After 9 years with manure, the move to manure did not disappoint. Walt says, “I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it. It’s a great product.” Nowadays, Walt’s crop operation sees regular corn yields of 20-25 bushels per acre more than before he was using manure, and soybean yields up 5-10 bushels per acre.  This yield increase aligns with what research has found to be the typical yield increase due to manure, “A recent worldwide literature review of 159 research comparisons of the nutrient replacement value of manure observed an average yield increase of 4.4%.” 

Additionally, Walt says, “We’ve seen a really good increase in yields on our dryland corners.” This is because manure doesn’t just provide nutrients, it also packs a punch in its ability to improve soil health. One of the ways it does this is through increasing the soil’s water holding capacity. It achieves this by boosting soil organic matter. “One benefit of increasing soil organic matter is to store more water in your soil. Why does this happen? Because soil organic matter creates pores in a range of sizes. Exactly how much more water is stored due to soil organic matter will depend on soil texture, though.” 

The switch away from the convenience of commercial fertilizers came with challenges and lessons learned, but experience has flattened the learning curve and the pieces have come together on the Traudt family’s farm. Walt is excited about the direction his operation is taking and looking toward a bright future for generations to come.