April 13, 2022

What's that smell? | Manure Managment 🌱

"Manure is a hot commodity."

- Allen Kampschnieder, a Nebraska-based fertilizer industry consultant for Nutrient Advisors.

💩

What's top of mind?

Anyone else notice that 2022 is proving to be another year of staggeringly high fertilizer prices?📈

And there's no indication of dropping prices or supply chain stabilization yet.

So what does that mean?

With fertilizer price so high, we can turn the tables in our favor. Think: Manure sales. 🤑

Hey, livestock owners!

You might have the opportunity to earn some extra cash for your excess manure. Here's how:

This Week's Prosperity Checklist: Manure management

Start with a grant

USDA programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) offer funds to offset the cost of a Nutrient Management Plan

✅ Find a market

Manure-sharing and sales are often a farmer to farmer transaction. But if you haven't made those connections, check out Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, etc.

✅ Learn your local rules

Selling “transferred manure” (manure applied to land owned by someone else), may come with its own rules, especially if you're crossing county or state lines. Make sure you follow your state's nutrient source sales rules by becoming familiar with your local permitting agency

✅ Set a price*

Outline (in writing) the price, field location, tons/gallons per acre and total tons/gallons delivered to the field before the transaction date. Know whether your buyer can apply the manure themself or if a commercial manure hauler needs to be hired. Check out this manure value calculator as a starting point!

This week's survey results are in:

Nice! Most of us are using manure as a natural fertilizer. But none of us said that we sell our manure. Don't leave money on the table! selling your liquid gold.

We get it. Cow manure isn't the most glorious topic when it comes to farming, but nutrient management is essential. That is... unless you prefer a clean dairy air. 🥁

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*Note: If a buyer is new to utilizing manure, they might not own the machinery necessary to apply it. In that case, factor in application and transportation costs to your price.