Dairy producers have many duties to carry out in their dairy operations, one of which is storing, handling and applying manure. Manure handling can be a significant cost on most dairies even when considering the value of the nutrients in the manure. Seldom do producers consider their costs of handling and applying manure on a per hundredweight (cwt) of milk sold basis like they do with many of their other costs.
In Iowa, the annual grain production requires replenishment of the fertility of the soil. Deep soils and high yields are a perfect solution for recovering value from manure. Technologies for better application and more efficient handling are applied throughout Iowa. Dairy manure values, according to Iowa State University specialists, are such that a corn producer can easily have more than enough fertility brought onto his farm to fully fertilize the following year’s crop and more.
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