The value of animal excretion is increasingly appreciated by the farmers. To give a better control of the manure value through application, a thorough analysis of the elements around manure handling and spreading on the farm was done by the FRCUMA (a regional union of cooperatives of agricultural machinery users). The following elements were taken into account in the study: distances between the manure storage facilities and the fields where the manure is applied, spreading systems, actual application rates compared to the rates that are intended by the farmers, and fertilizing value of the manure applied. The factors affecting application rates are also presented.

Livestock wastes are often perceived as wastes and should be considered as a resource. However to reach this change in mentality, means have to be considered in order to understand all the elements such as technical, economical, psychological and social aspects contributing to practices evolution. In studying contract or cooperative manure spreading, consideration have to be put to technical, economical and labor aspects.