Manure management is a priority concern of the beef feedlot industry. Specialized livestock production often separates manure from the cropland it has been traditionally associated with. Therefore, manure management is often considered in this same context. Manure management, however, need not be discussed exclusively in the context of a feedlot operation. A whole farm planning approach offers significant potential for manure management when the production of beef feedlot cattle and crops occurs at the same site. Integration of crop and livestock production offers benefits to the operation that are not readily available to specialized operations producing strictly crops or livestock. Cropland can provide feed to the livestock portion of the enterprise and a place to apply the manure produced by the cattle. Manure supplies nutrients to cropland that would otherwise have to be purchased from off-farm sources. Therefore, what would be a cost of disposal to an operation producing strictly livestock may become an economical way to supply nutrients to crop production on an integrated crop-livestock operation. Manure management and utilization can be addressed at several stages of agricultural production from livestock ration decisions through to land application and crop choice. Dietary manipulation and composting offer potential to reduce the amount and constituents of manure. Growing crops with high nutrient demands allows more nutrients to be recycled on a fixed amount of cropland. Wang and Sparling (1995) demonstrated that it was possible for irrigated land producing hay, grain corn and silage corn within a 10 mile radius of an area
of highly concentrated feedlots to absorb more than twice the manure produced by feedlots when the manure was applied at agronomic rates. Growing crops such as potatoes, sugar beets, or other crops to be exported out of a region presents yet another opportunity for longterm manure management. These crops grown for export break the cycle of applying manure to cropland, feeding the crop to livestock, and applying the subsequent manure on the same land.