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Coming off the third year in a row of high-yield harvests,
farmers are looking to replenish their soil. Bumper crops have
pulled nutrients out and farmers need to replace them. Austin
Omer, Illinois Farm Bureau associate director of natural
resource policy, said manure can jump-start soil microbial
activity.
“Manure is a great source of nutrients – great for soil health,”
Omer told The Center Square. “There are a lot of benefits when
you apply manure – especially on acreage that previously didn’t
have manure.”
Farmers with a local source of manure have lucked out this year.
Chemical fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia, is selling for $1,500 a
ton. Diammonium phosphate (DAP) has just topped $1,000 a ton. In
comparison, manure is inexpensive.
It is a great resource for crop producers who have access to
livestock, Omer said.
Only 10% of Illinois farmers typically use manure on their
fields. The farmers who use it do so year after year, so prices
do not fluctuate.
This year, however, soaring fertilizer prices have added value
to manure, Omer said.
“On a per-acre basis, manure can be worth anywhere from $25 to
$250 per acre when prices are high like this,” he said.
Over the past two decades, the way farmers use manure has
evolved. Many different technologies have been implemented in
order to apply manure more efficiently.
Manure is injected into the soil to keep it in place until the
crop needs it.
“That’s really what we want,” Omer said. “We want that manure to
sit there and stay in that field until the crop is planted.”
The vast majority of livestock farmers see manure as an asset,
he said. Most livestock producers in Illinois are using their
manure and taking advantage of it. Manure is easier to store and
apply than it was in the past.
“We’ve made a lot of advancements in storage capabilities
throughout the state,” Omer said.
Better storage gives farmers a larger window to get the manure
applied when they are working around weather events and delays.
Omer invites farmers to email him at aomer@ilfb.org.
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