Nebraska’s livestock industry can benefit from manure generated in the integrated animal and corn agricultural system. Farmers, who only run crop operations, can also benefit from animal manure field applications.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has released a new feature article on the manure industry in Nebraska. In the article, which is part two of a two-part series, the author highlights the fact that manure is nature's recycling program from the perspectives of crop and animal farmers.

Animal manures can be a valuable asset or a “pain in the assets”. During winter of 2020, 957 farmers and their advisors shared their perspective on the benefits and barriers to manure use. A previous article (part 1) focused on perceptions of manure’s benefits. This article (part 2) focuses on their perceptions of manure’s challenges that commonly become barriers to manure use in some fields and discusses strategies for preventing manure from becoming a “pain in the assets”.

Animal manures can be a “valuable asset” or a “pain in the assets”. Understanding the agriculture community's perceptions of manure's benefits and barriers is important to recycling manure nutrients efficienty. A survey of 957 individuals from the U.S. and Canada is helping us understand the next steps to encouraging manure's use as a valuable asset.