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by JERROLD TESMER
Ag Tech Advisor
Fillmore, Winona, Houston Counties
A Manure Value Workshop will be held on March 14, 2007, 10:00 am - noon, in room 108, at the Fillmore County Office Building, in Preston. The primary presenter will be Bob Koehler. In recent years Bob Koehler, Extension Educator at the Southwest Research & Outreach Center, and Bill Lazarus, Farm Management Specialist at the University of Minnesota, have develop a spreadsheet to analyze individual manure value situations and to develop some thumb rules to use in putting a dollar value on manure. County Extension Educator Jerrold Tesmer will present information relating to crop yield response from recent manure trials in Fillmore and Winona Counties.
In the past, manure application costs often exceeded the value of the nutrients applied. Now, in many situations, the nutrient value in the manure exceeds the cost of application. A formula that estimates manure value can be described by:
Net Economic Impact of Manure = Value of Year 1 Fertilizer & Application Costs Replaced + Residual Value (Mostly Year 2 if any) +/- Non- NPK Yield Response - Manure Application Costs. Manure value can be calculated on a per acre applied basis, per unit of weight or volume, per storage unit, or per operation. The value will vary widely, influenced by factors such as the amount of N, P2O5, and K2O required per acre by the crop, manure nutrient concentration in the manure, application rate, potential yield response attributed to manure beyond N-P-K application, and application cost per ton or gallon. The same manure in terms of nutrient concentration can have widely differing value depending on crop need and accuracy of application.
Producers are strongly urged to make calculations based on their own situations. However, some "thumb rules" can provide guidelines if one is assured that application rate will be based on the recommended nitrogen rate and that application costs are approximately $0.01 per gallon. For "weak" manure (about 25 pounds N/1000 gal.) and a nitrogen-only crop need the manure value is often about 50% of application cost. For "hot"
finishing barn manure (50-60 pounds N/1000 gallons) and a nitrogen-only crop need (fields that have high soil test levels of P2O5 and K2O) the manure value is about equal to the cost of application. For "hot" finishing barn manure and fields that need both nitrogen and moderate P2O5 and K2O levels the total value can be significantly above the cost of application. The nitrogen rates in the above examples would be typical for a corn crop.
For further information contact Jerry Tesmer at either the Fillmore County Extension Office 507-765-3896 or the Houston County Extension Office 507-725-5807. There is no charge for this program.
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