Livestock production (dairy, beef, swine, poultry, sheep, goats, horses, etc.) is one of the major agricultural industries in the U.S. The over 9 billion head of livestock (105 million cattle, 62 million pigs, 9.3 billion chickens and turkeys) generate an estimated 145 million tons (dry matter) of livestock manure annually, 64 million of which is produced by animals that are confined and which must be collected and disposed of.
Livestock manure can be used to produce bioenergy and bioproducts using technologies such as anaerobic digestion (for liquid manures typical in dairy and swine production), and gasification and pyrolysis (for solid manures common in beef and poultry production). The EPA estimates that approximately 2,623 dairy farms and 4,281 swine farms are good candidates for biogas collection and bioenergy production.