By Warren Rusche
If you were to ask 100 cattle feeders how they assess profitability, that discussion would be dominated by breakevens, cost of gain, and profit/loss on a pen closeout. Adding value to farm-raised crops might come up for a farmer feeder, especially if the price of grain is low. If manure enters the discussion at all, it is usually only in the context of yardage costs, labor demands, and bedding expense.
However, manure plays a key role in reducing system costs for integrated livestock-crops enterprises. Livestock waste can be a valuable source of crop nutrients when correctly managed. That becomes even more important during years when fertilizer costs are higher than normal.
Figure 1 shows the nutrient value of manure per head of capacity for three different beef housing systems. These values assume that the feedlot is full year-round and that 50% of manure N is available for crop growth. Manure production estimates were taken from the Iowa State University Beef Feedlot Systems Manual.
Using the price assumptions shown, a 999-head beef facility would generate approximately $49,000, $103,000, and $125,000 worth of crop nutrients for an open yard, bed pack, or slat floor barn, respectively. If we just look at nitrogen alone those values are $21,000, $42,500, and $53,300 per head of capacity, respectively. Those values do not show up on a closeout report, but they absolutely will reduce direct cash costs and improve farm profitability.
Figure 2 shows how these values could change based on fertilizer costs for an open yard. For an open yard, manure value per head ranges from about $45 to just over $50 per head of capacity depending upon urea and DAP values.
Confinement systems that capture greater proportions of manure value, such as bed pack or slatted floor facilities, would show a similar pattern only with greater values per head.
Source : sdstate.edu