The 2026 North American Manure Expo, held July 28-30 at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Wayne, Nebraska, was a tremendous success! Bringing together manure applicators, farmers, industry professionals, Extension/University professionals, researchers, and advocates from across North America, the Expo offered something for everyone interested in the future of manure management.

It takes a talented and dedicated team to pull off an event of this magnitude. While the University of Nebraska Animal Manure Management Team may have served as the "official" hosts, we certainly cannot take credit for the success of the 2026 Manure Expo alone.

The North American Manure Expo is overseen by a board that includes Extension personnel, manure applicators, manure manufacturing partners, and Annex Business Media (Canadian based business-to-business marketing firm and publisher of Manure Manager magazine). And each year’s event is managed and executed by countless individuals and organizations working together across the United States and Canada.

While it would be impossible to recognize everyone individually, and we apologize to anyone we may inadvertently overlook, we are incredibly grateful to all who contributed to this year’s event in ways both large and small. The team behind this event included:

• numerous Nebraska Extension professionals representing a wide range of disciplines and focus areas,
• USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) personnel,
• local producers and community members,
• colleagues from educational and research institutions throughout the United States and Canada, and
• Nebraska custom manure applicators.

Every contribution played an important role in making the 2026 Expo a success. We extend our sincere gratitude to anyone who shared their expertise and vision, volunteered their time, provided resources, offered guidance, or supported the event in any capacity.

Northeast Nebraska was an ideal location for hosting the Expo due to the high concentration of livestock operations in the area and the availability of tour opportunities. The Wayne County Fairgrounds were selected for their outstanding facilities, access to nearby farmland for demonstrations, and proximity to MPM Farms, which graciously agreed to host the agitation demonstrations. The Wayne County Fair Board was exceptional to work with, consistently going above and beyond.

The weather did as the weather is accustomed to do in Nebraska in July, but even with the scorching heat experienced Tuesday and Wednesday and deluge of rain on Thursday (a welcome sight for area farmers), we estimate over 800 people from 29 states and provinces in the US and Canada attended, including livestock producers, crop farmers, custom manure applicators, ag businesses, Extension/University personnel, NRCS, ARS, and others. Known international reach included Brazil, Poland, United Kingdom, Serbia, Holland, and Germany.

Attendees were able to explore 71 vendor exhibits, participate in one of four different tours, experience side-by-side equipment , and attend numerous educational sessions and panel discussions. One such panel inspired a follow-up webinar through the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Community.

A month has now passed since the Expo, and we remain grateful to all the people who attended and helped make it such a successful event. It couldn’t have happened without the presence of such an awesome and collaboratively-minded community. And for those that we’re unable to attend and wish you could have, we hope you have the opportunity to attend the 2027 North American Manure Expo in Guelph, Ontario, and North Carolina in 2028. We’re hopeful that in the future, after some time to reflect and recharge, the North American Manure Expo will return to Nebraska, bigger and better than ever. The University of Nebraska Animal Manure Management Team looks forward to leveraging the newly established collaborations and innovative ideas generated at this year’s expo for years to come.