Throughout history, farmers who raise dairy, beef, hogs, sheep, poultry or other livestock have used manure as a fertilizer. Manure contains many useful, recyclable components, including nutrients, organic matter, solids, energy and fiber.
With today’s technology, manure can be used more efficiently, which lessens many of the environmental concerns that result when manure is treated as waste. Farmers use manure as a fertilizer to provide nutrients needed for crop production.
“Manure nutrients have real value as fertilizer,” says Jerry Clark, Extension crops and soils agent for Chippewa County, Wis. “The fertilizer value of manure increases as the price of commercial fertilizers increases. Even though fertilizer prices are down a little this year, they are still high.”
Recycling nutrients
Like commercial fertilizer, manure must be managed properly to avoid environmental impacts.
“Using fresh manure as a fertilizer to raise crops that will be fed back to the livestock is an excellent way to recycle nutrients,” Clark explains. “Ideally, fresh manure would be used on the farm where the manure is generated or on a neighboring farm, because fresh manure is expensive to haul even short distances.”
Manure is commonly land-applied as a semi-solid or liquid.
“Farmers can incorporate manure into the soil or inject it under the soil surface to reduce the risk of runoff losses and odor problems,” Clark says. “The value comes from incorporating the manure into the soil. If fresh manure is incorporated within 72 hours, you have more nutrients. It all boils down to what is available to the plant, and a lot of that is determined by how quickly it is incorporated into the soil.”
The most expensive nutrient (per unit) that crops need is phosphorus, Clark says. “For dairy, livestock and poultry farmers, the good news is that manure from most farm operations can meet the phosphorous need of the crop.”
While excess phosphorus presents a nutrient management challenge, some of the reasons phosphorus in manure oversupplies what is necessary for crops can be easily remedied.
Source: farmprogress.com
Categories: Nebraska, Livestock