If you have ever taken a whiff of soil or mulch, you may be confused by the nasty poop smell. The truth is that farmers use cow dung to the soil very frequently. In fact, the tradition of using cow poop in soil dates back to the 7th century in the Byzantine empire. While it seems very strange that cow dung is used in soil that is used to grow our food, there are many benefits of this process.

Why do Farmers Use Cow Dung to the Soil

Farmers use cow dung in soil because it is very high in healthy nutrients. One of the main components is nitrogen, which is a very important nutrient for crops. Cow’s dung contains a high concentration of nitrogen because they consume so many plants and grain. On a daily basis, a cow eats around 25 pounds of plants. Cow dung has a lot higher concentration of nitrogen compared to pigs, because cows are herbivores and only eat plants.  Cow dung also has a high concentration of carbon which helps improve the quality of the soil. One of the main reasons that cow dung improves the quality of soil is because it increases the amount of water it can hold. It also allows the soil to hold more nutrients at one time. 

It is very common for farmers with big farms to use cow dung in their soil to save money. Paying for artificial fertilizers can costs thousands of dollars, so using the natural waste from cows can save a lot of money. 

Cow manure is also preferred to other animal’s poop (chickens, pigs, etc.) because cow dung rarely has twigs or plants in it. This is because cows have a very strong digestive system that breaks all of these materials down before it is released as dung. Manure from chickens and pigs sometimes has to be treated by removing the leftover plants or feathers that are still in the poop. 

Why does some manure not smell bad

Sometimes, farmers will take great measures to make sure that their cow dung soil and manure does not smell bad. They sometimes insert artificial compounds to improve the smell.

Is it dangerous to put cow dung in soil?

While there are certainly many benefits to adding cow dung to the soil, there are a couple risks. Cow dung might contain parasites and other insects that can potentially harm the crops in the soil. Some nutritionists also believe that cow dung can cause there to be antibiotics in crops, but this has not been 100% confirmed.