MANURE

One of the greatest expenses associated with raw manure is transportation, due to the huge amount of manure (volume and weight) and distances between dairy sites and application lands.

The first consideration about manure is to change the mindset of manure being a waste product to being a resource. With that assumption, there are multiple variables that influence manure transportation and application considerations.

Management of manure is growing in importance for dairymen given a variety of issues that range from the inherent desire to protect the environment to the need to ensure profitability.

One option often considered for dairy farmers currently operating an anaerobic digestion system is the co-digestion of off-farm substrates.

Labour is an important discussion point when looking at any aspect of your operation. Labour is even more significant when it comes to the manure management system you select.

Utilizing manure as fertilizer is one common approach to capturing the inherent value in manure and reducing the costs of off-farm inputs. But the approach has its limitations, particularly in situations where there is more manure than can be responsibly managed on the available land.