Producers Make Manure Management Decisions
Producers value manure at $3.85 per ton due to its positive impact on soil properties.
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We conducted a mailed questionnaire survey of crop producers in Weld County, inquiring as to their views about and uses of manure. During November and December 1998, questionnaires were mailed to all persons (approximately 1000) identified as owners of cropland in the feedlot-intensive area of Weld County, near Greeley. About 270 persons responded to the survey, which solicited several kinds of information, including: 1) General descriptive questions about the operator's farm/ranch; 2) Two parallel series of questions about a) a typical field (if any) to which the operator had applied manure during the past season , and b) a typical field to which the operator had not applied manure; 3) Questions concerning the economic value, positive or negative, that the operator placed on manure as a soil amendment; and 4) A series of questions concerning perceptions of the benefits and problems associated with applying manure to crops.
Respondents to the survey represented producers typical of Weld County. Average total acreage of operation was about 500 acres, with most oriented in one way or another to animal production. For the majority of producers, corn (shell or silage) constituted the largest single crop, typically followed by other feed crops, such as alfalfa or hay. Forty-three percent of all operators were engaged in some kind of animal production, with cattle being the most common species.
About half (53%) of persons surveyed reported having applied manure to at least one of their fields during the past year, with nearly half of those (44%) saying that they obtained most of what they used from their own livestock. On fields to which manure was applied, average usage was 19 tons per acre. On those fields operators saw as suitable for manure application, 66% of those who had their own source of manure said they applied manure at least every other year. Among operators who relied on off-farm manure sources, 55% of those who applied manure this year indicated that their typical practice involved application of manure at least every other year.
Perceived Value
Over 80% of producers saw manure as having positive economic value. On average, these people indicated that manure was worth $4.80 per ton to them. Those who indicated that manure had negative value to them said, on average, that they would have to be paid $2.50 per ton to accept manure spread on their fields. Averaging negative and positive values across all producers, the average per ton value of manure was (+) $3.85.
Producers were asked to respond to a series of questions concerning the importance of potential benefits of manure use, such as "Inexpensive Fertilizer" and potential problems, such as "Salt Damage to Plants." Responses to these questions suggest that most producers view manure positively. On a scale of 5 (Important) to 1 (Not Important), the average score for Benefits was 3.9, as opposed to only 2.7 for the Problems. Even the least important Benefit ("Prevents Wind Erosion") ranked nearly as high as the most important Problem. Benefits seen as most important included "Improves Soil Properties" and "Source of Organic Matter," while the most important problem was "Causes More Weeds," followed by "Soil Compaction." These attitudes toward manure use did show up in producers actual behavior, with high scores on importance of Benefits and low scores on importance of Problems being associated with substantially increased chances of having used manure on at least one field last year.
While it seems natural to suspect that producers' perceptions of the economic and agronomic value of manure might affect propensity to use it, we also investigated how field-specific factors influenced whether a particular field was chosen for manure application. Neither the kind of crop grown, nor whether a field was leased or owned, nor the current status of weed problems in a field, nor the past yield history of a field affected the chances of it being manured. Distance of a field from a manure source, and size of the field had the most effect on the manure-use decision, with greater distance and larger field size showing strong negative associations with a field having been manured.
