Ah, the circle of farm life! Most people who have never visited or been on a farm do not realize that there is one continuous circle going with the crops, the cows, the dairy and meat production, and the crops again. It is a circle that requires some explanation, and one which causes most people to gag, but then it makes everything very clear. For those that have never been on a farm, here is the fine art of field fertilizing explained, what you should know about manure, and the circle of farm life revealed. 

Liquid Manure

Early in the spring, farmers get out their spreaders. These unique, tow-behind machines have tanks for holding liquid manure. As everyone knows, manure does not come out of a cow in liquid form. No, for that the farmer has to create a manure pit where piles of manure are shoved into a man-made drainage lake of water and slowly become this liquid mess. That liquid manure is then pumped into the spreader machine. As the spreader machine is towed behind the tractor, it is pumped into several jets and sprayed all over the fields behind the tractor. The farmer goes up and down the fields until they are completely coated in liquid manure, and thus, fully fertilized for spring crop growth. 

No Manure Spreading Without the Cows

Of course, the farmer could not possibly have the manure to spread on the crops if he/she does not have enough cows. The cows are fed varying diets in order to produce certain chemical levels in their manure. This is quite the science, getting the cows to eat just hay one day, and just grain the next in order to produce higher levels of magnesium, sulfate, calcium, etc., in their manure. These minerals translate into the soil through the spreading process, but crops will only grow if the cows are fed the right amounts of the different foods they eat. Meanwhile, the cows help feed the farmer and his/her family through dairy and meat products. 

Cows Are Bred to Get More Food, and More Manure, for More Crops

There is no aspect to farm life that can exist without the others. Crops cannot grow without cow manure and the machines to spread the manure. Cows cannot produce manure without eating the right crops (e.g., hay, alfalfa, grain, corn, etc.). Cows cannot produce manure that provides soil with the right nutrients if they do not eat enough of the right crops. They also cannot produce enough manure to spread on the fields unless there are enough cows. Cows are bred to give the farmer more cows and more manure to grow more crops. Meanwhile, the cows also supply dairy and meat to the farm family. It is the circle of farm life.