Cost-benefit analysis of manure applications on specialized dairy farms in the highlands and lowlands of Costa Rica

Abstract

The objective of this study is to estimate the value of manures for dairy farm pastures through a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) by quantifying manure- N content and costs for manure application. This work focuses on Intensive Specialized Highland Dairy (IS-HD) and Intensive Specialized Lowland Dairy (IS-LD). The IS-HD and IS-LD dairy types encompass the bulk of milk production in Costa Rica (CR) (CNPL 2019). The aim of this study is to evaluate the profitability of purine irrigation by tubes and canons. We elaborated two models that represent the farms in the two regions mentioned above. A CBA study was conducted on these models to evaluate the viability and feasibility of manure applications.