Economic feasibility of adapting manure processing technology to beef cattle production in Arizona

Published in 1977

The beef cattle Industry has experienced significant structural changes in recent years. Larger feedlots have become concentrated in production areas which has resulted in an accumulation of manure in these areas. Conventional methods of manure handling have become inefficient and new methods are being developed. The development of a process which extracts nutrients from manure is a method which has received increasing attention. The idea of processing manure for feeding is not a recent development; however, the problem is developing a process which is environmentally and economically acceptable. One process which shows particular promise is being developed by Feed Recycle, Inc. The process being developed removes most of the sand and salt and then dries and sterilizes the manure, making it suitable for feeding. The manure processing plant is designed to accommodate large feedlots with the typical feedlot capacity being 30,000 head. An economic analysis of the plant revealed that although a substantial capital investment is required, adoption to an existing feedlot operation enhances the profitability of the business. When compared to conventional manure handling methods, processing the manure for feeding proved to be environmentally and economically efficient.

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