USE IN FEEDLOT CATTLE
Environmental Issues

Animal manure and commercial fertilizers are sources of phosphorus (P) in agricultural runoff that may cause environmental pollution. Including co-products in rations increases the P concentration of diets resulting in greater P in manure. Inclusion of WDGS at 40% diet DM produces a 90% increase in P excretion. Feeding DGS diets that contain elevated levels of dietary P require more astute manure management plans than feeding conventional corn based diets without supplemental P. Traditional manure management programs have been based on crop nitrogen (N) needs. Transitioning to an annual crop P requirement rate will require five times more land to spread manure. However, spreading manure on a four-year P-based crop rate will only require a modest increase in labor, equipment and land cost over traditional annual N-based manure application to crops. The $25 to $48 of cattle profit from feeding

WDGS occurred at a cost of about $3 to $5 per finished animal from increased manure management costs, depending on feedlot size (Kissinger et al., 2006). However, when the true fertilizer market value is placed on the manure, there is a net profit to manure management. Increases in dietary P level increase the fertilizer value of manure faster than the increase in cost of manure distribution. Accounting for the cost and fertilizer value of the manure, the profit per finished animal from manure management is about $4 per animal.When the WDGS manure management profit is added to the feeding profit from WDGS, the total WDGS profit per animal is $29 to $52 more than a conventional corn-fed animal. This accounting assumes that additional land is readily available on which to spread the manure. Accounting for the manure fertilizer value from DGS fed cattle can actually improve the profitability of cattle feeding operations.

For more information or to request additional copies of this manual, contact the Nebraska Corn Board at 1-800-632-6761 or e-mail k.brunkhorst@necorn.state.ne.us.

Download PDF version of this manual, or



For more information on the feeding of corn milling co-products to beef cattle
and information contained in this manual, contact:
Dr. Galen Erickson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Animal Science Room C220, Lincoln, NE 68583-0908, 402-472-6402

Date published: August, 2007