A growing number of livestock producers are discovering manure compost as a new cash crop. When Mark Meyer refers to the “magic” at New Day Farms, he isn’t referring to the liquid egg products generated by more than 2.5 million laying hens.
Rather, Meyer, the environmental manager at the Ohio facility, is talking about the nearly 38,000 tons of compost produced annually from poultry manure, which is then sold throughout North America, some of which he says has even landed on the lawn of the White House.
“We are the only poultry facility on Ohio that is 100 percent composting,” Meyer boasts, adding that none of the compost is used on any of New Day Farms’ 450 acres of land. New Day Farms is among a growing number of livestock producers — whether dairy, swine, horse, poultry or others — that are discovering manure compost as a new cash crop.
In some cases, farmers are using the manure compost on their own lands, drastically reducing the need — and substantially cutting the costs — for synthetic fertilizers. The compost can also be used for animal bedding material.