Agricultural Production Animal Manure Management

Value of Manure

Manure Impact on Soil Aggregation

The organic matter in manure improves soil quality including formation of stable soil aggregates.
Manure increases formation of larger and more stable soil aggregates. Several benefits result for fields fertilized by manure compared to commercial fertilizer including reduced runoff and soil erosion and increased water infiltration leading to greater drought tolerance.

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Manure and Soil Health Presentations Bring Experts, Give Voice to Wondering Minds

plant growing in soil
Farmers and ranchers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of soil quality/health to the productivity and sustainability of their agricultural system. Research and field observations have demonstrated that carefully managed manure applications can contribute to improved soil quality with limited environmental and social risks. However, a comprehensive assemblage of outputs and conclusions from research studies, field trials, soil labs databases, and other sources has never been developed.

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Is Manure a Fertility Option for Wheat?

spreading liquid manure in wheat with a toolbar
With ground opening up for manure application following wheat harvest, this is a good time to ask about the fit for manure with wheat? There are some good opportunities to use manure following wheat harvest.

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Abandoned swine lagoons and earthen storage basins may contain valuable nutrients

person sampling lagoon sludge from an excavator bucket
When a swine lagoon is abandoned, the owner has the choice of decommissioning the lagoon or maintaining the integrity of the lagoon. Decommissioning means dewatering the lagoon and land applying the sludge at the bottom. One cannot just fill in the hole. The process of removing the water and the sludge is time consuming and takes resources and planning to complete properly. One aspect of the process does have some cost recovery and that is utilizing the sludge in a beneficial way.

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Finding Win/Win Opportunities for Manure

manure pile
This article is Part 2 of a two-part discussion on the value of manure. Part 1 focused on manure nutrient substitution for commercial fertilizer and appeared in the February 27, 2017 CropWatch.

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