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A6RICULTURAL
UIBABY
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
Agricultural Experiment Station
BULLETIN No. 240
THE PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION
OF MANURE ON ILLINOIS
DAIRY FARMS
BY H. A. BOSS
URBANA, ILLINOIS, JULY, 1922
SUMMARY OF BULLETIN No. 240
The aim of this study was to ascertain with some accuracy the amounts
of manure recovered and applied to the fields under general dairy farm
conditions in Illinois, to show the common practice of progressive farmers
in the utilization of manure, and to present data on the labor cost of
hauling and spreading.
The data were derived from 224 farm records of one year each and
involve an aggregate amount of 65,471 loads of manure recovered.
The average amount of manure recovered annually was 6.6 loads for
each of the 7,161 dairy cattle units, and 5.45 loads for each of the 2,229
work animal units which were maintained on these farms. These amounts
include both the clear excrement and the bedding.
With the system of manure management which was practiced on
these farms, an average of thirty dairy cattle units per 100 acres of till-
able land would be necessary in order to provide sufficient manure to an-
nually cover one-fifth of the land at the rate of 10 loads per acre.
Approximately one-third of the acreage of these farms was in corn,
and to this one-third was applied two-thirds of the recorded manure. The
greater part of the remaining one-third was applied to hay and small
grain crops.
On the farms studied, nearly half (45.5 percent) of the total amount
of manure recovered was hauled during the months of March, April, and
May, and of this amount over 70 percent was applied to corn. June, July,
September, and October were the months in which the least amount of
manure was hauled.
The average amount of labor required in hauling and spre'ading a
load of manure was 1.05 man hours and 2.19 horse hours. The labor per
load was least during the months when the greatest amount of manure
was hauled.
THE PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION
OF MANURE ON ILLINOIS
DAIRY FARMS
BY H. A. BOSS, ASSOCIATE IN D'AIRY ECONOMICS
INTRODUCTION
Dairy farming is generally considered to be particularly well
adapted to the maintenance of soil fertility and the building up of
depleted soils because of the relatively small amounts of plant foods
which are removed from the farm by the sale of milk or cream. It is
usually assumed that the rest of the fertilizing constituents of the
crops are returned to the soil in the manure ; an assumption which
is far from the truth as regards the majority of Illinois dairy farms.
The amount of manure produced annually by farm animals varies
widely because of differences in the amount and kind of feed con-
sumed and the efficiency with which the feed is utilized by the animals.
Estimates of the annual production of manure are, for the most part,
based upon feeding experiments in which the excrement of one or more
animals has been weighed for periods ranging from one to ten days.
The average production per day, for these periods, multiplied by 365
has usually been taken as the average annual production. In the
case of dairy cows, the feeding experiments have usually been con-
ducted when the cows were producing heavily on full feed, and the
estimates of the annual production of manure are probably somewhat
greater than the amounts actually produced.
In planning systems of cropping and soil treatment looking toward
the maintenance of fertility by the use of farm manure, it has been
customary to use these estimates of production. The difficulty in so
using them, however, is the fact, shown by numerous studies, that
great losses of both soluble plant foods and organic matter result from
the very common, wasteful methods of handling manure. In Illinois
it is the common practice of dairymen to pile the manure in the
barn yard as it is produced, and to haul it to the fields as time and
field conditions permit. When it is left loosely piled, much of the
fertilizing constituents are leached out by rain and melting snow and
part of the organic matter is destroyed by fire-fanging. The tramping
of manure into the mud of the barn lot by live stock also increases
the loss.
The hauling and spreading of manure upon the fields each day
as it is produced is one of the methods of conservation often advocated.
However, the injury to wet fields or to growing crops, the press of
473
474 BULLETIN No. 240 t [July,
work during the crop season, and similar difficulties prevent this plan
from being commonly followed. The practice of allowing manure to
accumulate in the stall during the winter also conserves manure, but
this method is objectionable from the standpoint of clean milk pro-
duction and is usually barred by the health regulations which govern
the production of city milk. A few dairymen who have a sufficient
amount of barn room permit the cows to run loose in a large enclosure
and put them in the stalls only during the time they are being milked.
The manure is allowed to accumulate in the enclosure during the
winter and, as it is well packed and under shelter, little waste results.
If plenty of bedding is used, the cows can be kept in a fair condition
of cleanliness, but the excessive cost of housing a large herd in this
manner ordinarily prevents the adoption of the method. Storing
manure under sheds or in concrete pits until it is hauled out upon
the field reduces the waste, but if the cost of the building or pit is too
great the saving in manure may do little more than offset the added
expense.
This study aims —
1. To ascertain the amount of manure that is actually recovered
from barns and feed lots and applied to the fields under general dairy
farm conditions in Illinois.
2. To show the common practice of progressive dairy farmers in
utilizing manure, in respect both to seasonal application and to crops
treated.
3. To present data on the labor cost of hauling and spreading
manure.
No recommendations or suggestions are made as to modifying the
practices described. It is hoped, however, that the data presented
may serve as a basis for future studies on methods of manure man-
agement and utilization which will not only be well adapted to main-
taining the productivity of the soil but will also be economical.
SOURCE AND CHARACTER OF DATA
This study is based upon data obtained from detailed cost account-
ing investigations conducted by the Department of Dairy Husbandry
during the eight years 1912 to 1919. Eighty-seven different farms
were studied for periods ranging from one to eight years. Records
for one year were available on 39 percent of the farms ; for two years
on 21 percent ; for three years on 16 percent ; and for four or more
years on 24 percent. A total of 224 farm accounts were included in
the study, each of which covered the production and utilization of
manure on a farm during one year.
Seventy-five of the eighty-seven farms were located in the northern
part of the state, forty being in the dairy district tributary to Chicago.
1922] PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF MANURE ON DAIRY FARMS 475
The farms varied as to acreage and as to the size of the herd, but the
group as a whole was representative of the better class of dairy farms
operated by efficient and progressive men. The methods of these
farmers in utilizing manure were determined largely by experience
and custom.
Practically all the farms were equipped with one or more manure
spreaders, but in hauling out manure in the spring it was common
practice to use wagons in addition. The spreaders were largely of the
two-horse type, altho a small number required three horses.
The data in this study were obtained directly from practical farm-
ing operations, and the work was in no sense experimental. The
farmers recorded daily the kind of manure hauled, the number of
loads, the fields upon which it was spread, and the amounts of man
and horse labor required in handling it. Maps with numbered fields
were used in keeping the records. It is realized that slight errors
may have resulted from this method of collecting data, but because
of the extensiveness of the data, both as to number of farms involved
and as to time covered, and because of its close supervision, it is
believed that such errors could have no influence upon the general
significance of the data.
The amounts of manure recovered per animal and the amounts
applied to the various crops are here reported in terms of loads, the
weight of which varied with the size of the spreader and the kind
and condition of the manure. Most of the farmers estimated that the
average spreader load weighed one ton. Farmers think in terms of
loads of manure per acre rather than in terms of tons per acre, so that
for the purpose of this study loads are more significant.
It is evident that only a part of the total manure produced annually
on a farm is hauled to the fields. Some is lost by rotting and leaching,
some is tramped into the mud, and during the summer months a large
amount is dropped on pastures. This study deals only with the manure
and bedding that was recovered from the barns and feed lots, no
account being taken of the manure dropped while the stock was on
pasture. All but a very small part of the pastures of the farms
studied were permanent. Many of them were boggy or hilly, and
whatever manure was dropped there during the pasture season of
approximately five and one-half months could fertilize the pasture
grasses only, because it will be years before many of these fields come
under cultivation.
The total number of the various kinds of live stock on the farms
and the loads of manure recovered annually are shown in Table 1.
It was impossible to determine separately the amounts of manure
recovered from cows and from young stock, because often both classes
476
BULLETIN No. 240
[July,
TABLE 1. — MANURE RECOVERED ANNUALLY ON 224 DAIRY FARMS
Live stock kept
Manure recovered
Kind
dumber
Ratio
Animal
units
Loads
recov-
ered
Percent
of
total
Loads
per
animal
unit
Cows
4 762
259
4 279
1.00
1.00
.50
4 762.0
259.0
2 139.5
7 160.5
47 238
72.2
6.60
Bulls
Young stock
Total dairy cattle
Horses
1 813
204
423
1.00
1.00
.50
1 813.0
204.0
211.5
2 228.5
12 153
18.6
5.45
Mules
Colts
Total work animals
Sows
2 870
4 484
7 247
.20
.20
.10
574.0
896.8
724.7
2 195.5
3 809
5.8
1.73
Shoats
Pigs
JTotal swine
Hens
28 333
218
118
85
62
.01
.01
.01
.03
.02
283.3
2.2
1.2
2.5
1.2
290.4
549
.8
1.89
Ducks
Guineas
Geese
Turkeys
Total poultry
*Total steers
406
1.00
406.0
480
.7
1.18
Ewes
796
149
.14
.07
111.5
10.4
121.9
101
.2
.83
Lambs
Total sheep
'Miscellaneous
1 141
1.7
Total
12 402.8
65 471
100.0
of the numbers inventoried at the beginning and the end of the year.
2Not kept on the farms thru the entire year.
'The following miscellaneous refuse was hauled out upon the fields: 717
loads of old straw, 318 loads of clover chaff, 90 loads of stockyards manure, 9
loads of rotten silage, 5 loads of shredded fodder, and 2 loads of old hay.
of live stock were kept in the same barn. Animal units have there-
fore been used to afford a fairly comparable basis for showing the rela-
tive amounts of the various kinds of manure recovered. One animal
unit is equivalent to one mature cow, horse, or steer ; to two head of
young stock ; to five hogs, seven sheep, or one hundred chickens.1 This
method of computing animal units is frequently used in reducing
varied groups of animals to a common basis for comparison, and when
applied to the first two classes of live stock (dairy cattle and work
animals) it is sufficiently accurate for the purpose of this study.
Swine and beef cattle, however, are rarely kept on the farm thru the
entire year and the amounts of manure per animal unit shown by the
above table to have been produced by them are therefore not com-
parable with the amounts shown for dairy cattle and horses.
1 Warren, G. F., Farm Management, p. 210. 1916.
1922] PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OP MANURE ON DAIRY FARMS 477
RECOVERED FROM DAIRY CATTLE
Altho dairy cattle constituted only a little over one-half of the
total number of animal units on these farms, they produced almost
three-fourths of the total manure recovered. The average amount of
manure recovered per cattle unit was 6.6 loads. As already pointed
out, this amount was exclusive of the manure dropped on pasture and
of the loss which occurred when the manure was left about the barn
lot to rot.
The manure recovered per cattle unit on the different farms va-
ried widely, owing to the different methods of handling the manure
and to the kinds of feed and the amounts of bedding used. On some
of the farms, a portion of the bedding was purchased and the farmer
therefore attempted to keep the amount used at a minimum. On other
farms, large amounts of straw were produced ; and because of clauses
in the leases of rented farms prohibiting the sale of roughages, or
because of the endeavor of farm owners to maintain fertility, as much
bedding was used as could be worked up into manure. These large
amounts of straw of course tended to absorb the liquid portion of the
manure, and not only was a large amount of fertility saved that would
otherwise have been wasted, but also the straw was made easier to
handle in spreading.
The variation in the amount of manure recovered per cattle unit
on the different farms is shown by Table 2. On approximately one-
half the farms, between 5 and 8 loads were recovered annually; and
on one-fifth of the farms, less than 5 loads.
RECOVERED FROM WORK ANIMALS
Of the total manure recovered on the 224 farms, almost one-fifth
was produced by the horses, mules, and colts. The average amount
recovered annually per animal unit was 5.45 loads. Altho the horses
were on pasture only a short time during the summer, a large amount
of manure was dropped while they were being worked in the fields or
on the roads, and this of course was not accounted for in the study.
The manure dropped while the horses were working in the fields, how-
ever, was of direct benefit to the tillable land.
The variation in the amount of manure recovered from the work
animals on the different farms is shown by Table 2. On half the farms
the average amount recovered per animal unit was between 4 and 7
loads.
RECOVERED FROM OTHER SOURCES
The manure produced by the hogs, steers, sheep and poultry on
these farms constituted 7.5 percent of the total amount recovered.
In addition, 1,141 loads of rotten straw, silage, clover chaff, and sim-
ilar refuse were hauled which were not, strictly speaking, manure, but
478
BULLETIN No. 240
[July,
TABLE 2. — SHOWING How THE AMOUNT OF MANURE RECOVERED ANNUALLY,
PER ANIMAL UNIT, VARIED AMONG THE 224 DAIRY FARMS
Manure recovered per
dairy cattle unit
Number
of farms
Manure recovered per
work animal unit
Number
of farms
Less than 1 load
6
Less than 1 load
2
1 to 2 loads
7
1 to 2 loads
4
2 to 3 loads
6
2 to 3 loads
16
3 to 4 loads
7
3 to 4 loads
19
4 to 5 loads
23
4 to 5 loads
38
5 to 6 loads ....
36
5 to 6 loads
43
6 to 7 loads
40
6 to 7 loads
28
7 to 8 loads
33
7 to 8 loads
29
8 to 9 loads
22
8 to 9 loads
18
9 to 10 loads
18
9 to 10 loads
10
10 to 11 loads
7
10 to 11 loads
6
11 to 12 loads
9
11 to 12 loads
2
12 to 13 loads
12 to 13 loads . , <
2
13 to 14 loads
2
13 to 14 loads.
4
14 to 15 loads
3
14 to 15 loads
1
15 to 16 loads
1
15 to 16 loads
1
16 to 17 loads
1
16 to 17 loads
17 to 18 loads
1
17 to 18 loads
_
18 to 19 loads
18 to 19 loads
_
19 to 20 loads
19 to 20 loads
_
20 to 21 loads .
1
20 to 21 loads
1
21 to 22 loads
1
such materials have been here included because the data do not permit
the separation of the labor of hauling them from the labor of hauling
the animal manure.
POSSIBLE RATES OF APPLYING MANURE
It is evident that in planning a system of permanent soil produc-
tivity, the number of cattle necessary to furnish sufficient manure to
carry out the manurial program must be based upon the probable
amount that will be recovered and not upon the total production cal-
culated from experimental data. In order to determine the frequency
with which the tillable land could have been manured on these farms
having different numbers of cows, the 224 farms were divided into
seven groups on the basis of the number of crop acres in the farm
(exclusive of pasture) for each cattle unit. Consideration is here
directed only to the manure recovered from the dairy cattle, the
amounts of manure recovered from other sources being in no way re-
lated to the number of cattle kept.
Fourteen of these farms, as shown by Table 3, had less than two
crop acres for each cattle unit. The maintenance of so many cows
on this basis was possible because of the large amount of pasture in
these farms, less than half of the total acreage being under cultivation.
The average amount of cow manure recovered annually in this group
was 279 loads per farm, or 3.37 loads per crop acre. If none of this
manure had been applied to pasture, each acre under cultivation could
PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OP MANURE ox DAIRY FARMS
479
have been treated with 10 loads of manure every three years. Had
the amount of manure recovered on these fourteen farms been as high
as the average amount recovered on all the farms studied (6.6 loads
per cattle unit) , one-third of the tillable land could have been manured
each year at the rate of 13 loads per acre. These fourteen farms, with
relatively large numbers of cows and small crop acreages, did not
produce so great a surplus of straw for bedding as did the farms which
were less heavily stocked, and this accounts to a large extent for the
smaller amount of manure recovered per cattle unit.
TABLE 3. — RELATION BETWEEN THE NUMBER OP DAIRY CATTLE UNITS PER 100
CROP ACRES AND THE AMOUNT OF MANURE RECOVERED
Group
Crop acres
per cattle
unit
Number
of
farms
Average number
of cattle units
Loads of manure recovered
annually from dairy cattle
Per
farm
Per 100
crop
acres
Per
crop
acre
Per
cattle
unit
Per
farm
I. .
1-1.9
2-2.9
3-3.9
4-4.9
5-5.9
6-6.9
7- over
14
49
51
40
18
13
39
53.7
46.0
34.5
25.2
22.4
16.7
19.4
65
41
29
22
18
16
7
3.37
2.68
2.09
1.54
1.47
1.05
.37
5.2
6.5
7.2
6.9
8.0
6.6
5.7
279
304
247
173
178
111
110
II.
Ill
IV
V...
VI
VII
In the succeeding groups of farms the loads of manure recovered
per crop acre decrease rather uniformly as the crop acres per cattle
unit increase. The last group, consisting of 39 farms, averaged 15.3
crop acres per cattle unit, and the amount of manure recovered was so
small (.37 loads per crop acre) that 22 years would have been required
to cover all of the tillable land at the rate of 8 loads per acre.
Having some basis for knowing the average amount of manure
likely to be recovered per dairy cattle unit under common farm prac-
tice, it becomes a simple matter, in planning a cropping system, to
compute the number of cows, or their equivalent, that will be required
to provide sufficient manure for any desired rate of application. Table
4 gives a number of such calculations. For instance, if the proposed
system called for an application of 10 loads of manure per acre during
a four-year rotation, according to the data supplied by this study 38
cows or their equivalent, per 100 crop acres, would be required. From
these data, also, the possible rates of applying manure may be calcu-
lated if the number of dairy cattle units per acre is known. For
instance, a farmer having 30 cows, or their equivalent, for each 100
crop acres would have sufficient manure to annually cover one-third of
his crop land at the rate of 6 loads per acre. If he favored heavier
applications he could manure one-fourth of his tillable land at the rate
of 8 loads per acre, or one-fifth at the rate of 10 loads per acre, or
one-sixth at the rate of 12 loads per acre.
480
BULLETIN No. 240
[July,
It is apparent that the relatively small amount of manure recovered
per cattle unit (6.6 loads) was due, in part, to the wasteful methods
of handling, but so long as these methods are the common practice
they must be taken into account in planning for the maintenance of
the fertility of the soil by the use of farm manure.
TABLE 4. — NUMBER OF DAIRY CATTLE UNITS PER 100 CROP ACRES REQUIRED
FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SUFFICIENT MANURE TO BE APPLIED
AT VARIOUS RATES AND INTERVALS
Figured on the Basis of 6.6 Loads of Manure per Cattle Unit being Recovered
Annually
Frequency of
manuring
6 loads per
crop acre
8 loads per
crop acre
10 loads per
crop acre
12 loads per
crop acre
Every 3 years
Cattle units
30
Cattle units
40
Cattle units
51
Cattle units
61
Every 4 years
23
30
38
45
Every 5 years
18
24
30
36
Every 6 years
15
20
25
30
Every 7 years
13
17
22
26
Every 8 years
11
15
19
23
Every 9 years
10
13
17
20
Every 10 years
9
12
15
18
CROPS MANURED
In classifying the disposal of the manure, the crop which first fol-
lowed the application of manure to a field is recorded as having been
the crop manured. This crop may have been grown the same year in
which the application was made, or it may have been grown the fol-
lowing year if the field was manured in the fall. Manure applied in
midsummer, after the removal of a grain crop, is listed as having been
applied for the crop grown in the field the next year.
The disposal of 5,093 loads of manure, or 8.09 percent of the total
amount hauled, is classed as "unknown." The amount and kind of
this "unknown" manure, the season it was hauled, and the man and
horse labor used in handling it have been included in the data, but the
crops which utilized the manure were not recorded. The absence of
this part of the record for the "unknown" manure is largely due to
the fact that during the eight-year period covered by this study a
number of the cost accounts were discontinued and for these farms the
records are incomplete as to the crops utilizing the manure that was
applied in the autumn and winter preceding the spring in which the
accounts were dropped.
Table 5 shows the aggregate amount of manure applied to each
crop on the 224 farms. There was hauled to the fields a total of 62,884
loads. The difference between this amount and the total amount
recorded in Table 1 is due to the difference in the amounts of unhauled
manure inventoried at the beginning and at the end of the year.
1922] PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF MANURE ON DAIRY FARMS
481
TABLE 5. — TOTAL MANURE HAULED ANNUALLY ON 224 DAIRY FARMS AND THE
CROPS RECEIVING IT
Crop manured
Loads
Percent of
total
Corn
37 641
59.86
Alfalfa
4 154
6.61
Timothy
2 651
4.22
Wheat
2 589
4.12
Clover
2 575
4.09
Pasture
2 572
4.09
Rye
1 205
1.92
Oats
976
1.55
Garden
805
1.28
Clover and timothy. . .
Potatoes
699
623
1.11
.99
Barley
362
.58
Cowpeas .•
331
.53
Melons
218
.35
Orchard
208
.33
Soybeans
103
.16
Beets
29
.05
Strawberries
25
.04
Sudan grass
15
.02
Sorghum
7
.01
Pumpkins
3
Unknown
5 093
8.09
Total
62 884
100.00
Three-fifths of the total manure hauled was applied to corn land.
This was over nine times as much as was applied to any other crop.
Altho alfalfa received the next largest amount, that amount was but
one-sixteenth of the total manure hauled. Timothy, wheat, clover, and
pastures each received approximately one-twenty-fifth of the total
amount of manure. The other 5,609 loads for which there are rec-
ords were distributed in varying amounts among fifteen different crops,
no one of which received as much as 2 percent of the total manure.
EELATIVE ACREAGE OCCUPIED BY THE VARIOUS CROPS
The proportion of the manure which was applied to each of the
various crops would have greater significance if the relative acreages of
these crops were known. Because of the fact that manure applied in
the spring was utilized by the crops of one year, and manure applied
in the autumn and winter was utilized by the crops of the following
year, the exact acreage of the crops manured could not be determined.
However, the acreage of the crops grown during the year in which
the manure was hauled (Table 6) represents fairly accurately the rela-
tive areas of the crops receiving manure, since 85 percent of the records
are from farms which were included in the study for two or more con-
secutive years.
482
BULLETIN No. 240
[July,
Corn was grown on almost one-third of the total area of these 224
dairy farms. The pasture acreage was practically the same as that of
corn (30.81 percent of the total area). The oats crop ranked third
in respect to acreage (11.26 percent), and wheat ranked fourth (7.27
percent). Timothy, clover, and alfalfa came next, occupying 4.58
percent, 3.11 percent, and 2.92 percent respectively of the total acreage.
On the remaining area (8.60 percent) twenty miscellaneous crops were
grown.
TABLE 6.—'
Crop
Acres
Percent of
total
Corn
14 719
31.45
Pasture
14 420
30 81
Oats
5 267
11 26
Wheat
3 403
7 27
Timothy
2 145
4 58
Clover
1 456
3 11
Alfalfa
1 366
2 92
Barley
954
2 04
Rye .....
849
1 81
Clover and timothy. . .
Orchard
481
419
1.03
90
Cowpeas
375
.80
Garden
151
32
Potatoes
147
31
Millet
114
.25
Strawberries
105
23
Wild hay
100
21
Oats and peas
94
.20
Soybeans
81
.17
Melons ....
49
11
Vetch
30
.07
Sudan grass
23
.05
Buckwheat
23
.05
Sorghum
15
.03
Beets
8
.02
Pumpkins
1
Sunflowers
1
Total
46 796
100.00
METHODS OF UTILIZING MANURE
In order to better study the practices of these farmers in regard
to manuring the different crops, the data in Tables 5 and 6 have been
summarized in Table 7 and are shown graphically in Fig. 1. In this
table the 5,093 loads of manure classed as "unknown" have been
omitted in calculating the proportion of the total manure which was
applied to the various crops.
Altho corn land constituted only 31.5 percent of the total crop
acreage, the corn crop received 65.1 percent of all the manure hauled
exclusive of the "unknown" manure (Table 7). In Table 8 is shown
1922]
PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF MANURE ON DAIRY FARMS
483
TABLE 7. — MANURE HAULED ANNUALLY FOR EACH CROP AND THE AGGREGATE
ACREAGE OF EACH CROP ON THE 224 DAIRY FARMS
Crops grown
Manure hauled
Acreage of each crop
Loads of
manure
per acre
Loads
Percent
of total
Acres
Percent
of total
area
Corn
37 641
10 528
5 132
2 572
1 038
623
257
65.1
18.2
8.9
4.5
1.8
1.1
.4
14 719
5 927
10 473
14 420
675
147
435
31.5
12.7
22.4
30.8
1.4
.3
.9
2.56
1.78
.49
.18
1.54
4.24
.59
Hay
Small grains
Pasture
Orchard and garden. . . .
Potatoes
Miscellaneous
Total (exclusive of
unknown)
57 791
100.0
46 796
100.0
Unknown
5 093
Total
62 884
the variation among the different farms in the proportion of manure
which was applied to corn land. Since the choice of crops to be
manured was a matter of judgment with the individual farmer, the
inclusion of eight years' records of one farmer and only one year's
records of another, would, of course, give undue weight to the method
of the farmer having the greater number of records. Where records
for more than one year were available, an average was therefore taken
for the entire period so that equal weight was given to the practice
of each of the eighty-seven different farmers included in the study.
Approximately one-third of these eighty-seven farmers applied from
80 to 100 percent of the manure to their corn, and three-fourths of
them applied more than 50 percent to the corn.
The various hay crops, including timothy, clover, alfalfa, mixed
hay, cowpeas, millet, vetch, etc., constituted 12.7 percent of the total
acreage (Table 7). The manure applied to these crops amounted to
10,528 loads, or 18.2 percent of the total known manure. It was the
usual practice of the farmers who applied manure to meadows to
follow a hay crop with corn. This gave the hay the benefit of the
manure the first year, and gave the corn, which followed, the benefit
of both the residual effect of the manure and the increased growth
of roots and stubble left from the hay crop. In Table 8 there is
shown the variation among the different farms in the proportion of
manure which was applied to the hay crops. Over one-half of these
farmers applied less than 20 percent of the manure to hay ground;
three-fourth applied less than 30 percent ; and only four applied as
much as 80 percent.
The small grains (wheat, oats, barley, and rye) almost doubled hay
in acreage, but they received less than half as much manure as did
the hay crops. Three-fourths of the farmers applied less than 10
484
BULLETIN No. 240
[July,
TABLE 8. — SHOWING How THE PRACTICES OF THE 87 DAIRY FARMERS VARIED IN
RESPECT TO THE PROPORTION OF MANURE APPLIED TO THE VARIOUS CROPS
Percentage of
total manure
applied to
corn
Number
of farms
Percentage of
total manure
applied to
hay
Number
of farms
Percentage of
total manure
applied to
small grains
Number
of farms
Less than 10%. . .
10 to 20%
2
6
Less than 10%.. .
10 to 20%
36
12
Less than 10%. .
10 to 20%
66
15
20 to 30%
3
20 to 30%
17
20 to 30%
2
30 to 40%
3
30 to 40%
9
30 to 40%
1
40 to 50%
9
40 to 50%
6
40 to 50%
3
50 to 60%
8
50 to 60% . . .
2
50 to 60%
60 to 70%
13
60 to 70%
1
60 to 70%
_
70 to 80%
15
70 to 80%
70 to 80%
80 to 90%
15
80 to 90%
3
80 to 90%
90 to 100%
13
90 to 100%
1
90 to 100%
-
percent of the manure to small grains, and none of them applied
more than 45 percent.
Pastures constituted 30.8 percent of total farm area, but they
received only 2,572 loads, or 4.5 percent of the total manure. This
Per-
cent
Percentage off
total manure f
Percentage of E
total acreage |
Corn
Hay
.Small
Groin
Pasture Orchard
and Garden
Potatoes Miscellaneous
FIG. 1. — EELATIVE ACREAGES OF THE VARIOUS CROPS, AND THE PROPORTION OF
THE TOTAL MANURE APPLIED TO EACH
19SS2]
PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF MANURE ON DAIRY FARMS
485
was, of course, exclusive of the manure dropped while the live stock
was on pasture. Probably the chief reason that pastures received
even this much manure was their accessibility at all seasons of the
year. When growing crops or muddy ground prevented manure from
being hauled upon other fields, the pastures offered a convenient place
for its disposal.
The acreages in orchards and gardens and in potatoes and the
amounts of manure hauled upon them have been grouped separately
merely to show the relatively heavy application of manure to these
crops.
SEASONAL APPLICATION OF MANURE
The amount of manure applied during the different months to
corn, hay, small grains, pasture, miscellaneous crops, and to those
fields for which there were no records of the crops, is shown by Table 9
and Fig. 2. As would be expected, the least amount of manure was
applied in June (1,857 loads) and but very little more was applied in
July. • It is during these two months that field work is heaviest, much
of the live stock is on pasture, and all the spring-sown crops are too
far advanced to permit the hauling of the manure upon the fields with-
out doing the crop injury. The amount applied to pasture, however,
during June, was greater than in any other month. This was probably
due to the fact that the fields devoted to crops are not accessible at
this time.
TABLE 9. — LOADS OF MANURE APPLIED MONTHLY TO THE VARIOUS CROPS ON
THE 224 DAIRY FARMS
Percent
Month
Corn
Hay
Small
grain
Pas-
ture
Mis-
cella-
neous
Un-
known
Total
for the
month
of
total
for
year
January
3 198
802
294
97
32
355
4 778
7 6
February
3 188
952
519
144
139
578
5 520
8 8
March
5 546
1 183
460
278
372
456
8 295
13 2
April
8 339
1 386
626
320
708
201
11 580
18 4
May
6 447
782
255
431
306
490
8 711
13 9
June
776
237
79
495
71
199
1 857
3 0
July
585
712
287
190
24
425
2 223
3 5
August
1 785
1 440
1 084
265
11
778
5 363
8 5
September. . . .
1 303
672
507
23
55
287
2 847
4.5
October
1 185
603
169
76
15
426
2 474
3 9
November
2 246
863
367
150
92
527
4 245
6.8
December
3 043
896
485
103
93
371
4 991
7.9
Total for the
year
37 641
10 528
5 132
2 572
1 918
5 093
62 884
100.0
Percent of total
59.9
16.7
8.2
4.1
3.0
8.1
100.0
486
BULLETIN No. 240
[July,
Unknown
Miscellaneous
Pasture
Small Grain
Hau
Jan. Feb. Mar. /April Majj June JuKj Aucj. Jept. Oct. Nov Dec
FIG. 2. — AMOUNTS OF MANURE APPLIED TO THE VARIOUS CROPS DURING THE
DIFFERENT MONTHS OF THE YEAR
The amount of manure hauled during August (5,363 loads) was
almost three times as great as was hauled during June. Much of this
was spread upon wheat and oat stubble, which had been seeded in the
spring to clover, alfalfa, or timothy ; and hence the manure so applied
was listed under hay crops. The 1,785 loads which were applied to
corn ground during August were hauled largely on hay stubble.
Winter wheat and rye were the two crops which received most of the
manure applied to small grains during this month.
From September until the peak was reached in April, the amount
of manure applied to the various crops tended to increase rather uni-
formly. .During the latter month 11,580 loads of manure were hauled,
8,339 of which were applied to corn. During May, 6,447 loads of
manure were applied to corn land despite the fact that corn was
usually planted about the middle of May on the farms studied. After
corn is planted, manure hauling is practically discontinued for two or
three months on most farms because of the relatively large amount of
labor which is required for field work.
1928] PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF MANURE ON DAIRY FARMS
487
LABOR COST OF HAULING MANURE
On the farms studied the average amount of man labor required in
hauling and spreading one load of manure was 1.05 hours (this does
not include the labor of cleaning the barn) . The time consumed varied
from month to month, and tended to be highest in the months when
the least amount of manure was hauled and lowest in the months when
the most manure was hauled. Fig. 3 shows graphically the relation
between the number of loads of manure hauled during the different
months and the amounts of man and horse labor used per load. The
total man and horse labor used each month and the variation in the
time per load is shown in Table 10. These are average figures, and
since many farms with varying amounts of labor per load were in-
volved it is unsafe to conclude from these data alone that there is a
relationship between the amount of manure hauled and the labor used
per load. When, however, the records were grouped on the basis of
the relative amount of labor used per load during the months in which
the greatest and the least amounts of manure were hauled, the conclu-
sion was shown to be justified. It was found that on 76 percent of the
130 farms on which manure was hauled during both August and May,
less labor per load was required during May than during August.
Similar comparisons of April and July, April and August, April and
September, and May and September showed that on 66, 72, 64, and 64
percent of the farms, respectively, the labor requirement per load was
least during the spring, when the greatest amount of manure was
hauled.
TABLE 10. — MAN AND HORSE LABOR USED IN HAULING 62,884 LOADS OF MANURE
ON 224 DAIRY FARMS
Month
Loads
of
manure
MAN LABOR
HORSE LABOR
Total
hours
Percent
of
total
Hours
per
load
Total
hours
Percent
of
total
Hours
per
load
Jan
4 778
5 520
8 295
11 580
8 711
1 857
2 223
5 363
2 847
2 474
4 245
4 991
5 170.75
6 050.75
8 469.75
10 599.50
7 721.00
1 906.25
2 910.25
6 596.00
3 684.75
2 725.75
4 870.00
5 530.00
7.8
9.1
12.8
16.0
11.7
2.9
4.4
10.0
5.5
4.1
7.4
8.3
1.08
1.10
1.02
.92
.89
1.03
1.31
1.23
1.29
1.10
1.15
1.11
10 447.75
11 788.50
17 630.00
22 985.75
16 878.25
3 928.50
5 878.50
14 039.25
7 431.00
5 508.75
10 072.50
11 104.00
7.6
8.6
12.8
16.7
12.2
2.8
4.3
10.2
5.4
4.0
7.3
8.1
2.19
2.14
2.13
1.98
1.94
2.12
2.64
2.62
2.61
2.23
2.37
2.22
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
June
July . .
A
AUK. .
Sept . .
Oct
Nov .
Dec
Total . . .
62 884
66 234.75
100.0
137 692.75
100.0
Average. . .
5 240
5 519.56
1.05
11 474 40
2.19
488
BULLETIN No. 240
[July,
The smaller amount of labor used per load during the months of
heaviest hauling was largely due to economy of time in harnessing
and loading. Naturally, less time per load was consumed in harnessing
the teams and hitching to the spreaders when the entire day was spent
in hauling from manure' piles which had accumulated during the
winter, than was consumed when the manure was hauled daily. On
many farms a saving in labor resulted from the use of two spreaders
and three men, the third man helping to load.
The variation among the different farms in the amounts of man
and horse labor used per load of manure is shown in Table 11. On
two-thirds of the farms studied, between 0.7 and 1.3 hours of man labor
were used in hauling one load of manure. The horse labor showed
slightly greater variation, ranging from 1.4 to 3 hours per load on
three-fourths of the farms.
These data on the labor costs of hauling manure are included in
this study because to a certain extent they account for the methods
Per
Cent
220
200
180
160
MO
120
100
60
CO
40
20
Ian lak
rlorse I
Loads o
or
abor
P manu
r-g
y
/
\
/
/
/
\
\
\
/
/
\
^
i
1
\
\
\
m
1
1
\
\
^
^*^
^^
v
-?
I
— ^
\
/"'
"-V
r*"
x
-z?^
^
T~ —
"*V*%5
•Y
f
1
1
\
\
s
— "' -j
r\
\
\
\
\
1
\
\
/
/
/
\
\
1
\
— ~"
Jon. Feb Mar /April May June July /\ug. Sept. Oct. Nov Dec.
FIG. 3. — RELATION BETWEEN AMOUNT OF MANURE HAULED DURING THE DIFFERENT
MONTHS, AND THE AMOUNTS OF MAN AND HORSE LABOR USED PER LOAD
PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OP MANURE ON DAIRY FARMS
489
TABLE 11. — SHOWING How THE AMOUNTS OP MAN AND HORSE LABOR USED PER
LOAD OF MANURE VARIED ON 224 DAIRY FARMS
Man labor
per load
Number
of farms
Horse labor
per load
Number
of farms
0.3 to 0.5 hours ....
3
0.6 to 1.0 hours
6
0.5 to 0.7 hours ....
23
1.0 to 1.4 hours. . . .
19
0.7 to 0.9 hours ....
65
1.4 to 1.8 hours. . . .
39
0.9 to 1.1 hours
59
1.8 to 2.2 hours
51 .
1.1 to 1.3 hours
28
2.2 to 2.6 hours
47
1.3 to 1.5 hours. . . .
12
2.6 to 3.0 hours
26
1.5 to 1.7 hours. . . .
9
3.0 to 3.4 hours
14
1.7 to 1.9 hours
12
3.4 to 3.'8 hours
11
1.9 to 2.1 hours
5
3.8 to 4.2 hours
3
2.1 to 2.3 hours
3
4.2 to 4.6 hours
4
2.3 to 2.5 hours
1
4.6 to 5.0 hours ....
1
2.5 to 2.7 hours
2
5.0 to 5.4 hours ....
1
2.7 to 2.9 hours
1
5.4 to 5.8 hours. . . .
1
2.9 to 3.1 hours
. _
5.8 to 6.2 hours
_
3.1 to 3.3 hours
1
6.2 to 6.6 hours
1
of handling manure which prevailed on the farms studied. On most
of these farms so much labor was required to haul and spread a load
of manure that to have hauled it daily as it was produced would have
been impractical during the cropping season.
\IMA
JiH^1
/.I./, Li.
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