The manure hits the land: Economic and environmental implications when land application of nutrients is constrained

The discharge of manure nutrients into area waters from confined animal feeding operations is considered a leading contributor to US water quality impairments. An option to mitigate these impairments is to constrain land application of manure. When these constraints are particularly binding, due to minimal acceptance of manure as a substitute for commercial fertilizer, potentially large and unanticipated changes in returns to agricultural production and water quality may occur. Moreover, some of the cost of meeting the constraints is passed on to consumers through higher prices and to a portion of rural economics through lower production rates and labor expenditures.