Economics of Manure Management

Other Relevant Documents

• Custom Manure Hauling and Spreading Rate Survey
• Manure Management for Water Quality, USDA AER-824 (6/03)
• North Carolina State University: Economics of Manure Management

Publications

• The "Other Fertilizer" The Economic Value of Swine Finishing Manure
  by Bob Koehler, William F. Lazarus and Mindy Spiehs. M1234/2008. A University of Minnesota Extension bulletin that discusses methodology for determining manure value, reports results of a three year study of manure values seen on Minnesota swine finishing farms, and discusses the variable dry matter levels reported in liquid swine finishing manure.
• Calculating Manure's Value - by Joe Vansickle, Senior Editor, National Hog Farmer, July 15, 2007. Popular press report of a 2007 World Pork Expo presentation.
• Determining Manure Value, - by Bob Koehler and Bill Lazarus, April 18, 2007.  A paper on the basics of manure value determination written.

Decision Tools

• MANURWKST.XLS, a downloadable spreadsheet (1.05 MB). May be used to determine whether manure will make a positive cash flow contribution to a livestock/farming operation, or whether it will result in a net cost to the livestock operation. This knowledge will be useful in budgeting new facilities. It should be especially relevant in contract production situations where the outcome can be a significant contributor to cash flow projections. The calculations can also assist crop and livestock producers attempting to fix values on manure that may be transferred or sold from one entity to another. (Software revised 10/08/08)
• MANURWKST_DAIRY.XLS, which is the same MANURWKST.XLS spreadsheet but with dairy manure as the default.
• MANURCST.XLS, a downloadable spreadsheet (350 KB). May be used by livestock producers or custom manure applicators to estimate the cost of distributing manure on land. It allows the user to enter farm specific information such as the equipment being used, the distance to land receiving the manure, and market prices. The program then computes the cost and time required to distribute manure on the land. It is intended to be a companion program for the "What's Manure Worth?" manurwkst.xls spreadsheet.

Presentations

• What is Manure Really Worth? (PDF file of PowerPoint Presentation with notes) (Updated 10/1/08)

News Releases

• How to Maximize Manure Value - by Bob Koehler & Bill Lazarus, September 3, 2008. Outlines management strategies to maximize the value of manure as a commercial fertilizer replacement.
• New Bulletin Addresses Manures Economic Value as a Commercial Fertilizer Replacement - August 12, 2008. Announcement of a recent University of Minnesota publication, The "Other Fertilizer" The Economic Value of Swine Finishing Manure