Maximizing Manure Value!

Manure is rich in nutrients and organic matter. It is also rich in odour and pathogens, making it a product that requires "good" management. Our mindset and management needs to focus on manure as a "resource" to maximize its value!

Ontario has a strong livestock base. A strong livestock base means that Ontario crops have a local market. A local market for crops, especially corn, means better crop prices for Ontario producers. The by-product of a strong livestock base though, is manure.

With no livestock on a farm, there are no costs for manure handling. This means that for livestock farm, the cost of storing and handling manure should be totally associated with the livestock business. When manure is handled so that nutrients are utilized to their maximum potential, the cost of manure handling decreases. This improves the bottom line of the livestock business. The organic matter of manure helps improve soil structure (especially with solid manure) and the resulting increase in soil productivity also increases the value of manure.

On the downside, manure application takes time and labour. Application at the time when the crop needs the nutrients is ideal. Manure nutrients benefit a corn crop most when applied in spring, just before planting. Yet soil compaction or delayed planting due to spring manure application can result in reduced yields. A real "catch 22"!

It all comes down to management! Manure management varies from farm to farm based on manure type, acreage base, crop rotation, soil type, equipment availability, labour availability, amount of manure that has to be handled, and distance to neighbours, just to name a few. Every livestock producer must decide how to best utilize manure as a resource, and sometimes this requires a compromise. A producer may have to compromise between nutrient loss and labour efficiency. Manure applied after wheat harvest onto red clover, rather than being applied before a corn crop, when time is too valuable, is one common compromise

Here is an example: a 1000 hog finisher operation has to handle approximately half a million gallons of liquid manure per year. The typical nutrient analysis would give about 33 lbs of available nitrogen (when immediately incorporated); 14 lbs P₂0₅ and 21 lbs K₂0 per 1000 gallons. Based on 2001 fertilizer prices, the manure could be worth as much as $24.00 per 1000 gallons. Assume it costs 1 cent per gallon to spread the manure.

At 5000 gallons per acre applied to a corn crop, there is almost a $100 range in manure value, depending on how it is managed. The manure could be worth as much as $70 per acre, or it could cost the producer $28 per acre to apply the manure.

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To get $70 nutrient value from the manure (after spreading costs have been subtracted) the manure would be spring applied and incorporated immediately. The nutrients would need to be applied to a field that had medium to high soil test levels where the nutrients from manure were taking the place of commercial fertilizer.

In the opposite extreme; to cost a producer $28/ac to spread the manure, the manure would be handled as a waste product. Nutrients are applied where they aren't needed, with high soil test levels or additional commercial fertilizer. Manure is surface applied and not incorporated, so that much of the nitrogen is lost. The manure will cost money to apply!

Applying nutrients to fields with already excessive soil test levels will "build the bank" of soil nutrients, but the "account" won't contribute toward crop needs for over 20 years; it only increases the potential risk of environmental contamination.

I'll say it again. Management has the biggest impact on manure value!

Source: OMAFRA 1997 and 2000 Custom Farmwork Rates in Ontario

Source: 1997 and 2000 Custom Farmwork Rates Charged in Ontario

• Custom rates of manure application used in the nutrient management software work out to 1 cent/gallon or $10 per 1000 gallons for irrigation of liquid manure and $3/ton for solid manure.
• Approximate fertilizer costs: Nitrogen $0.33/lb ;Phosphorus $0.35/lb; Potash $0.16/lb

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