On many farms, manure is still treated as a waste product to be hauled off when time allows. On Shawn and Mike Feikema’s third-generation operation in southwest Minnesota, near Luverne, it’s the engine that fuels their family’s crops, shapes land purchases and helps underpin the long-term profitability of the entire business.
“First off, we don’t call it waste. We call it fertilizer,” Shawn says with a grin.
Shawn farms with his wife, Becky, his brother Mike and sister-in-law, Staci, operating a 4,000-head beef feedyard and more than 7,000 acres of corn, soybeans, small grains and alfalfa. Over the past two decades, the family has turned manure from a byproduct into a planned, data-driven fertility resource that competes with — and in many ways outperforms — purchased commercial fertilizer.
From Byproduct To Core Fertility Strategy
The turning point for how the Feikemas view manure came when Shawn began comparing the performance of fields that regularly received manure with those that did not.
“We record everything,” Shawn says. “There’s nothing that comes to this yard or leaves this yard that we aren’t recording somewhere, whether it’s through the John Deere Operations Center, scales, whatever. We realized real quickly, as I started doing analysis 20-some years ago, that there was a massive difference between fields that consistently got manure and those that didn’t.”
That data pushed Feikema Farms to start treating manure with the same precision and intentionality as any high-dollar input.
“We started not only treating our manure like a fertility, we take the precision accuracy of spreading our manure as important as spreading any fertilizer,” Shawn says. “We treat manure like it’s coming from a co-op. We dial it in.”
The operation now relies on cattle manure from its feedlot as well as swine manure from local hog operations. Shawn says that out of all their crop acres, “We have nothing that doesn’t get manure at some point.”
That strategy not only helps the family replace over half of their commercial fertilizer, it also influences which acres they are willing to rent or buy. Fields near hog operations have been especially attractive.
“When we were given opportunities to pick up some ground next to a sow unit, next to a finishing barn, we made those contacts. We reached out and made contact with them,” he says. “We know what [manure] does for our soil.”
Regulations Force New Investments And New Systems
Minnesota’s rules for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have added complexity to manure management. The Feikemas used to spread much of their cattle manure in winter, when frozen ground minimized compaction concerns on crop ground. That option has largely disappeared, because of state regulations.
The family responded by building a large stacking pad to store solids during the months when they’re prohibited from hauling and spreading manure.
“We had to spend a little over $500,000 to build a stacking pad that we could stack this manure on for the times when we’re not allowed to haul it,” Shawn says.
Rather than just park the manure and wait, they’ve used that investment to push further into composting. Shawn notes that a team member has taken personal ownership of managing the manure, helping turn it into a higher-value, more uniform product.
“He’s taken a real passion in making sure he manages those compost piles well and gives us a great product to spread on the field,” Shawn says.
Rotation Built Around Manure And Livestock
The Feikemas’ crop rotation is built to make manure work. A typical sequence is corn–corn–soybeans–small grain (such as rye, triticale or oats), then back to corn.
“In between the small grain and the corn is when I try and get that manure out there,” Shawn says.
According to data tracked by the USDA Economic Research Service, corn is by far the largest crop recipient of manure. Roughly 16% to 25% of all U.S. corn acres receive direct manure application, depending on the state’s livestock density.
Shawn says liquid swine manure is typically injected between corn crops, while the composted beef manure often follows small grains. The combination of manure nutrients and high-residue rotations is delivering tangible agronomic benefits.
“I could almost grow better corn the second year after oats than I can the first year after oats, because of what’s happening between the manure and the different biomass,” he notes. “It’s just amazing what that does.”
Small grains remain a weak spot on the profit-and-loss (P&L) sheet, he concedes, especially with land values running around $16,000 per acre and the ability to raise 250-bushel corn “all day long.” The family has shifted more small grains into seed contracts to capture a premium, but small grains alone rarely pencil out strictly on yield and price.
Even so, the family views them as essential to their overall cropping system, especially when paired with cover crops and manure.
Cutting Input Costs And Managing Pests
One of the biggest payoffs from the Feikemas’ manure- and rotation-based system shows up in pest control. In a region where continuous corn is common due to heavy livestock feed demand, western corn rootworm has become a persistent problem for many area farmers.
“Up here we’ve struggled with corn rootworms so bad,” Shawn says. “There’s more livestock up here than you can shake a stick at, which is great and I love it. But what it does is make a lot of demand for feed, which means there’s a lot of corn-on-corn, which means we end up with a lot of rootworm.”
By weaving small grains, cover crops and manure into their rotation, Shawn says the operation has been able to back away from insecticides.
“One thing we found [is] that by implementing this rotation, we’ve completely pulled insecticides pretty much out of the picture,” he says. “You’re talking $20, $30, $40 an acre right there we’re not having to spend.”
Those savings matter in an environment where land costs, feedlot margins and fertilizer prices all squeeze the bottom line.
Cover Crops Deliver Measurable Benefits
Manure management on the operation doesn’t stop at the spreader. It also extends into the Feikemas’ cover crop strategy, which Shawn’s wife, Becky, leads.
“She’s kind of — I call her my cover crop queen,” he says. “Erosion is our No. 1 concern. That is the first thing we go after. And then number two is to alleviate compaction, and number three is to hold our nutrients where we put them.”
Cereal rye has been a cover crop workhorse on the farm for years, especially ahead of soybeans, where it provides strong weed suppression.
“We did about 400 acres where we let the [cereal] rye actually grow up with the beans for the first little while,” Shawn says. “That has probably been the best weed suppression tool we’ve seen in years.”
But he cautions that he’s seen cereal rye’s aggressiveness hurt corn establishment in favorable springs. The family is experimenting with oats and other cover crop species to maintain erosion control and nutrient capture without over-competing with the following crop.
“What we’re trying to do is we’re going to shift more towards an oat [mix],” he says. “I want enough cover there to keep us from erosion.”
On acres with small grains and cover crops, the family has also found opportunities to do contract grazing with local cow-calf operators, turning biomass into additional revenue while helping further integrate livestock and crops.
Livestock, Community And Taking The Long View
Shawn is candid about the challenges of running a feedlot in today’s competitive cattle market, where he says projected losses on some groups of animals — because of the upfront cost of purchasing them — can run $200 to $400 per head.
“People always ask me, ‘Well, cattle prices are good, you must be making a ton of money,’” he says. “I’m like, ‘No, the bank’s making a heck of a lot of money off me.’” After living through at least one turn of cattle that lost heavily, he adds, “We did that one time, I’ll never do that again. I don’t care if I have to sit empty.”
Still, he and his brother believe having livestock is critical for both soil health and the well-being of rural economies.
“If you want to build communities, you need livestock, because the money turns around in the community so much faster,” Shawn says.
That belief shows up most clearly in how the family handles manure: as a central asset, not a necessary burden.
“Manure used to be a secondary thought — you just hauled it when it needed to be hauled,” he says. “Now it’s a plan. You have to plan how you’re going to do this and carry this out.”
And increasingly, their plan for manure is what the Feikemas believe helps keep their family operation in the black.
For More Information:
Hear more about the Feikemas’ diversified operation — how the two brothers, Shawn and Mike, took over the operation from their dad and uncle, and why they’re thankful for lessons they learned in the process on how to “fail well,” recover and be successful — at the Crop Science Podcast Show, available here.
The story of Feikema Farms is featured in a 2024 documentary “From the Heartland” which highlights their journey to sustainable farming practices. The film, sponsored by John Deere, Pioneer, CHS and others, has received recognition from festivals like the Most Sustainable Solution award from the Ceres Food Film Festival in New York City. It has also played in-flight on Delta Airlines.
