Challenges and Opportunities for a Manure Market in Iowa

Abstract

Manure, which is produced as a joint product with the live-weight of animals and animal products (Roka and Hoag 1996; Ritz 2016), has long been utilized as fertilizer for crops and as a soil amendment (MacDonald et al. 2009). Utilizing manure for fertilizer is an efficient and potentially revenue-generating use of what otherwise would be a waste product. Additionally, given that a variety of livestock species and many operations produce manure, it serves as a source of fertilizer that is largely resilient to international shocks that have plagued the commercial fertilizer market.