Extension > Manure management > What's manure worth? calculator

What's manure worth? calculator

Bob Koehler, University of Minnesota Southwest Research & Outreach Center (retired), and Bill Lazarus and Will Meland, UM Department of Applied Economics

Introduction

Estimates of the economic value of manure are important in comparing manure application rates and methods, valuing manure for off-farm sale, budgeting new facilities, and evaluating contract livestock production opportunities.
Use this calculator to rapidly estimate the value of manure for specific manure types, application methods, soil nutrient status, and crop need.
The estimates are based on fertilizer replacement value and application costs.

This calculator is based on the spreadsheet “What is manure worth?”, developed by: Bob Koehler — University of Minnesota Southwest Research & Outreach Center (retired), and Bill Lazarus and Will Meland — UM Department of Applied Economics

Click the Recalculate button located at the bottom of each step to ensure any values you've entered are reflected in the calculations.

Step 1: Fertilizer Costs if Using No Manure

		Nutrient Costs per lb
1.	Nitrogen (N)	$
2.	Phosphate (P₅O₂)	$
3.	Potash (K₂O)	$
		Nutrients Needed per Acre (Do not include starter fertilizer amounts as manure will not replace starter.)
4.	Nitrogen (N)	lb
5.	Phosphate (P₂O₅)	lb
6.	Potash (K₂O)	lb
		(N - P₅O₂ - K₂O)
	Required Nutrients (from above)	( 140 - 45 - 40 )
	Total Cost of N, P₂O₅, and K₂O	$ 68.55 /acre
7.	Cost of Purchased N Stabilizer and Micronutrients per Acre	$ /acre
8.	N Fert. Application Cost Avoided When Manure Covers Need	$ /acre
8a.	Dry P₂O₅ and K₂O Fertilizer Application Cost Avoided	$ /acre
9.	Total Cost for Applied Commercial Fertilizer	$ 84.05 /acre

Step 2: How much Fertilizer Can You Replace With Manure?

10.	Manure Species
11.	Liquid or Solid
12.	Acres Available for Manure	acres
13.	Volume of Manure Available to be Applied	gals
14.	Nutrients Typical in this Manure, lb (N- P₂O₅ - K₂O)	( 29 - 18 - 26 ) /1000 gal
15.	Use the Above Default Nutrient Values?
	If No, Enter Your Nutrient Test Results Here:
16.	N, lb	/1000 gal
17.	P₂O₅, lb	/1000 gal
18.	K₂O, lb	/1000 gal
19.	Manure Application Method
20.	Typical Nutrient Availability for this Application Method (% N - P₂O₅ - K₂O)	( 60 % - 80 % - 90 %)
21.	Use This Value for Nitrogen Availability?
22.	If No, enter your own N availability (%)	%
23.	Rate of Application: N or P₂O₅ based?
24.	Application Rated Needed / Acre, Based on Your Choices:	8,046 gals
25.	Application rate / acre: Enter Your Planned Rate	gals
26.	Replacement Value of Micro-nutrients in Manure	/acre
		(N- P₂O₅ - K₂O)
27.	Nutrients Required by Crop per Acre	(140 - 45 - 40) lb
28.	Nutrients Applied per Acre at Your Rate	( 140 - 116 - 188 ) lb
29.	Commercial Fertilizer Cost Saved for N, P₂O₅, and K₂O	$ 68.55 /acre
30.	Total Nutrient and Application Cost Saved, Year 1	$ 84.05 /acre
30a.	Extra fertilizer N required in addition to manure at the manure application rate you selected.	0 lb
30b.	If you plan to purchase this extra N, enter the DIFFERENCE in cost (if any) for this extra N compared to the N price in line 1 (if applied in a different form, such as urea rather than NH3).	$ /lb of N
30c.	Total Nutrient and Application Cost Saved, Year 1 when the amount in Line 30 is adjusted for the change in per pound cost (Line 30b) of the extra fertilizer N.	$ 84.05

Step 3: Final Adjustments

	Year 2 Benefits
31.	Consider Year 2 Nutrient Credits in this Analysis?
32.	% of Applied Nitrogen Available in Year 2	25 %
		(N- P₂O₅ - K₂O)
33.	Potential Nutrients Available in Year 2, per acre	( 58 - 71 - 148 ) lb
	Nutrients That Will be Credited in Year 2 (or later for P₂O₅ & K₂O)
34.	N, lb	/acre
35.	P₅O₂, lb	/acre
36.	K₂O, lb	/acre
37.	Year 2: Total Value of Residual Nutrients Credited	$ 7.50

	Manure Yield Boost
38.	Per Acre +/- for Yield Impact ($)	$
39.	Per Acre +/- for Tillage or Other ($)	$

	Application Cost

40.	Cost of Applying at Your Planned Rate, per Unit	$
41.	Total Cost of Manure Application, Per Acre	100.58
	Total Fertilizer Cost If Supplying Year 1 Nutrient Needs as Commercial Fertilizer	84.05

Results

	Value of Manure Application Per Acre and Per Unit
42.	Gross Nutrient Value, Year 1	84.05 /acre
43.	Gross Nutrient Value, Year 2	7.50
44.	Yield and/or Tillage Impacts	20.00
45.	Total Gross Value of Manure	111.55
46.	Total Gross Value of Manure	0.014 /gal
47	Net Value of Manure Above Appl. Cost	10.97 /acre
48.	Net Value of Manure Above Appl. Cost	0.001 /gal
49.		1.36 /1000 gal
	Facility/Farm Totals
50	Manure Available to be Applied	300,000 gals
51.	Planned Application Rate	8,046 gals
52.	Acres Receiving Manure at Planned Application Rate	37 acres
53.	Net Value in Excess of Application Cost	$ 406
54.	Manure Left Over after Spreading, if Any	0 gals
55.	Acres Available for Manure	100 acres
56.	Manure Needed to Cover All Acres at Selected Rate	804,600 gals