Farmscape for June 29, 2007  (Episode 2525)

A Manitoba based custom livestock manure application service reports, as the price of commercial fertilizer continues to rise, agricultural producers are becoming more aware of the value of livestock manure as a source of crop nutrients.

Explosive growth of the livestock industry since the early 1990's and the environmental concerns related to that growth have been the driving factor behind significant advances in livestock manure application technologies.

Current options range from a typical shovel type injector to a knife to a tyne to a coulter, all of which have been accepted.

Precision Pumping president and general manager Doug Redekop, on hand for Manure Management 2007 in Winnipeg, says the big thing is the movement away from winter spreading and having storages capable of holding 400 plus days of manure and the recognition that you want to inject the manure when ever possible to keep that nitrogen phosphorus ratio in balance.

Clip-Doug Redekop-Precision Pumping

The people that are receiving the manure want to see it become as complete a replacement for commercial fertilizer as possible and so we have to adapt equipment that is able and willing to go into a multitude of different conditions, being soil and cropping conditions.

As the cost of commercial fertilizer has gone up so has the value of the manure.

I think that sheer demand is increasing the cost of fertilizer.

You get countries like India ad China that are demanding more commercial fertilizer to increase their productivity and so I can't see commercial fertilizer costs going down anytime soon.

I think we're getting to a position now certainly where the value of the manure can at least be equal to the cost of application if not a little greater depending on the rates that you're putting on.

Redekop stresses livestock producers as whole and the applicators are very concerned about their ability to be sustainable into the future.

He says anybody that says the industry is not sustainable and responsible should take a little closer look.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council