Soils generally have large stores of K, up to 10 times as much as N or P. Much is unavailable at any time, however, some release brings this element into the soil solution from which it can leach or be used by the plants. Most manure K is readily available, and during the first season, is either used by the crop or adsorbed on the soil to become available later. The moisture content of manure has an important effect on its consistency and on the selection of handling equipment and facilities. It is influenced by the type of animal, feed used, type and amount of bedding, and amount of dilution water added. Where bedding is restricted, liquid manure is produced with a thin consistency by adding water intentionally or from leaking waterers.
Some liquefaction also occurs when liquid manure is stored anaerobically.
Figure 1 is a useful graph to determine the amount of dilution water required to change moisture content. Generally, this consistency results when bedding or natural air drying is limited. It will not stack, so requires retention walls in storage, nor will it pump without addition of water. The daily volumes of fresh manure produced by different animals are shown in Table 3 below. Table 4 outlines the results of some manure analyses.