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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2017
Knowledge of manure composition is important for farm nutrient management, either if importing manure onto a farm or transferring nutrients around the farm in ‘home produced’ manures. Many factors affect the nutrient content of the manure ready to spread onto the land (Smith & Frost, 2000): dietary input and quality, nutrient losses during housing and storage and additions of bedding material and/or water. There are many reports of average values for manures from conventionally raised livestock (e.g. Anon., 2000 for the U.K.). However, there are less data available for manures produced on organic holdings. It is probable that composition will differ from conventionally produced manures because of differences in diet and manure storage methods (composting and/or long-term storage). Therefore, we aimed to test this under U.K. conditions by analysing cattle manures from organic holdings for comparison with data on conventionally produced manures.