The latest updated information regarding farm animal manure is now available on the internet. The tables show the manure’s nutrient content and the amounts of manure that the animals produce.

When you feed farm animals there will always be manure and urine coming out of the other end. How much this is and what the nutrient content of the manure and urine is in the form of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) depends on the animal species and the nutrient content of the feed.

The amount of manure, the nutrient content of the manure, and the effect of the feed’s protein content are some of the data that can be found in the latest manure standards that have been published by the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Aarhus, and which are available on the internet.

The figures are presented for each of the important farm animal species in Denmark, i.e. pigs, cattle, poultry, sheep, fur animals and horses, and are specified on the basis of animal age and production phase, housing type, and whether it is solid manure, semi-solid manure, liquid manure or slurry. There is information about nutrients excreted from the animals, and after ammonia has been emitted during housing and storage.

The standards are based on average animals. With the aid of the correction factors accompanying the tables it is possible to calculate the effect of changes in feed protein content on manure nutrient content and – at the end of the day – the effect of the manure on the environment.

- The tables with manure standards are the best possible reflection of reality on the farm and are handy in several contexts, says Head of Research Unit Hanne Damgaard Poulsen from the Department of Animal Health, Welfare and Nutrition, University of Aarhus.

- For example, you can use the figures for manure application planning to calculate if the means in the Action Plan for the Aquatic Environment III have had an effect, and to calculate the dimensions of slurry tanks. At the present, we are using the figures to calculate the total amount of N, P and K found in animal manure on a national level, and the Danish Plant Directorate uses the figures in its guidelines for manure application and harmony rules for the season 1/8-2007-31/7-2008, says Hanne Damgaard Poulsen.

The 2007 table with manure standards (in Danish) can be seen here .

For further information please contact: Head of Research Unit Hanne Damgaard Poulsen, Department of Animal Health, Welfare and Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus, telephone: +45 8999 1386, e-mail: HanneDamgaard.Poulsen@agrsci.dk

Text and photo: Janne Hansen