Animal manure can be used as a fertilizer, and it can improve soil quality. Manure can also be used as a feedstock for energy production. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to evaluate the role of animal manure as a source of fertilizer, and its other uses. About 5 percent of all U.S. cropland is currently fertilized with livestock manure, and corn accounts for over half the acreage to which manure is applied. Expanded environmental through nutrient management plans will likely lead to wider use of manure on cropland, at higher production costs, but with only modest impacts on production costs, commodity demand or farm structure. This book assesses current patterns of use of manure as fertilizer and evaluates the likely impacts of emerging environmental regulations on manure use. This book also assesses current efforts to use manure for energy production and evaluates the impact of bioenergy investments on manure’s use as fertilizer. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.
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