The continued issues in the fertilizer market are increasing alternative income opportunities for dairy operations. CEO of Western United Dairies, Anja Raudabaugh said that in the last six months there has been an “extraordinary uptick” in the purchase of composted manure. Many new windrow drying operations have been working to keep up with increased demand. Raudabaugh pointed out that the increased interest in composted manure comes at an important time for dairy farmers.
“We’re really proud of the fact that we have a biproduct from dairy making that can be used so handily by so many. It’s natural, it’s working really well, and it’s giving the dairy farmers – particularly in this time of high feed costs – a little bit of a backstop of revenue,” said Raudabaugh. “There’s plenty of manure to go around and there’s been quite a few of these new operations that have popped up down south and I’m very happy to see it. Because anything we can do to offset some of these high feed costs as a result of the drought, hopefully, will keep enough dairies in business throughout this terrible summer we’re about to have.”
Listen to the radio report below.
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