Manure Hauling Service
You get paid to pick it up. Then paid again to deliver it.
Bottom line
Worth studying, but do not buy without strong local proof.
Manure hauling businesses solve one of agriculture's most persistent logistical problems: livestock operations produce enormous volumes of manure that must be removed from barns, feedlots, and lagoons. The farmer pays to get rid of it. The crop farmer needs it as organic fertilizer. The hauler in the middle collects a fee from both sides — or at minimum charges for hauling and resells the load as a soil amendment. It's one of the few businesses where the raw material is free and you collect revenue at both ends. A single tanker servicing a 50-mile radius in a livestock-dense region can generate $250K-$600K annually.
How It Works
Liquid manure is pumped from dairy, hog, or poultry operations into tanker trucks (3,000-6,000 gallon capacity) and injected or spread on cropland as fertilizer. Solid manure is loaded and transported in dump trailers. Source farms pay $6-$20/ton for removal, or provide it free; receiving crop farms pay $15-$45/ton delivered, or the hauler charges $8-$18/acre for custom spreading. Spring and fall are peak demand seasons matching crop planting cycles. Some operators add composting to convert raw manure into bagged premium product with higher margins.
BizBite verdict
Worth underwriting
Manure Hauling Service maps to the Manure Hauling Service model. The category can work for acquisition buyers, but the right answer depends on source freshness, verified economics, and the specific red flags below.
Why it may work
- +Attractive 35% estimated margin profile
- +Category usually has strong acquisition-financing fit
- +SBA dataset shows 5 recent comparable loans
- +5 clear operating upside levers identified
Be careful
- !Source link status has not been verified yet
- !No last-checked date yet
- !Capex-sensitive model
Category operating model
Manure Hauling Service
Revenue drivers
- • Gallons or tons pumped, hauled, and applied
- • Distance, hose moves, road crossings, and field geometry
- • Injection, dragline, tanker, agitation, and loading method
- • Storage deadlines and emergency pump-down work
- • CAFO, dairy, hog, poultry, and digestate accounts
Key risks
- • A spill creates an environmental claim
- • Deadhead and moves are underpriced
- • Wet fields collapse the calendar
- • Equipment fails when storage is full
- • Driver and applicator supply caps crews
What you need to believe
- The crew can apply 17M paid gallons in workable windows
- Distance and setup are billed
- Flow, field, and nutrient records survive inspection
- Equipment reserve is real
- Farm accounts and operators transfer together
Unit economics
How one unit makes money
Modeled per one liquid-manure crew with agitation, pumps, drag hose or tankers, injection equipment, and support vehicles. Every line shows its arithmetic — rebuild any number yourself.
Revenue build-up
| Line | Low | Base | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid manure pumping and application10M-30M gallons × $12.50-$20/1,000 gallons; base is 17M × $17.50/1,000 | $125K | $298K | $600K |
| Agitation, setup, hose moves, and distance35 mobilizations × $1,000 blended surcharge | $10K | $35K | $100K |
| Solid manure, cleanup, and emergency transfer2,500 tons × $7/ton in the base case | $15K | $18K | $100K |
Where it goes — cost structure
- Field and driving labor16–24%
BLS puts 2025 agricultural heavy-truck wages near $48K before burden and overtime.
- Fuel and lubricants12–20%
Pumps, agitation tractors, trucks, and applicators can burn fuel on the same gallon.
- Equipment maintenance and reserve12–20%
A hose that holds pressure today is not a zero-cost asset.
- Insurance, permits, pollution, and safety4–7%
- Mobilization, dispatch, cleanup, and admin6–10%
What actually swings the deal
- Paid liquid volume
±1M gallons × $17.50/1,000 = ±$17.5K revenue.
- Realized rate
±$1/1,000 gallons across 17M gallons = ±$17K revenue.
- Fuel burden
Five revenue points on $350K = $17.5K SDE.
- Workable crew days
One 170,000-gallon day × $17.50/1,000 ≈ $2,975 revenue before setup.
Benchmarks to memorize
The base needs about 100 productive 170,000-gallon days. Nameplate pump flow is not the ceiling; agitation, moves, access, travel, and weather are. Growth beyond roughly 25M gallons usually needs a second field system and operator bench.
Market analysis
Who owns these & where demand comes from
Local custom applicators, farms, trucking contractors, and larger dragline crews compete around livestock density. EPA rules tie covered CAFO application to nutrient plans and records, making this more than trucking. SBA NAICS 484220 is a broad freight proxy, not a one-crew comp.
Tailwinds
- ↗ Recordkeeping rewards metered crews
- ↗ Larger farms outsource peak equipment and labor
- ↗ Injection and dragline improve placement and reduce tanker compaction
Headwinds
- ↘ Wet soil compresses the calendar
- ↘ Diesel, equipment, insurance, and driver inflation compound
- ↘ Farm consolidation strengthens customer bargaining
Demand drivers
- Livestock storages must empty inside agronomic windows
- Permitted CAFOs need plan-compliant application records
- Short seasons make equipment ownership uneconomic for some farms
- Digesters and dense livestock regions create repeat volume
Regulation
NPDES-permitted CAFOs must implement nutrient plans; rate, timing, method, nutrient analysis, and records matter. State applicator, hauler, CDL, weight, spill, and setback rules vary. The buyer needs a farm-by-farm matrix.
Who you bid against
Adjacent applicators buy contracts, crew, and compatible equipment; farms insource to secure timing. Strategics can pay more because added gallons fill existing pumps and dispatch.
Competitive advantage
What protects the good ones
- strongDense farms and receiving fields
Shorter moves put more paid gallons through each crew-day.
- strongRecurring farm relationships and records
A crew mapped into the nutrient plan and trusted around full storage is not replaced casually.
- moderateEquipment and operator bench
Redundant pumps and trained operators protect peak weeks.
- moderateCompliance record
Permits are obtainable; a clean spill and application history takes seasons.
Who wins — and who loses
The winner prices each million gallons by distance and setup, meters every field, stages backup pumps, and has two people who can dispatch a spill response. The loser bids cents per gallon from a map, absorbs three hose moves, then learns rain turned the only profitable week into axle-deep mud.
How this niche degrades
- ↘ A spill or off-plan application can stop work immediately.
- ↘ Farm consolidation reprices a large account annually.
- ↘ Tighter weather restrictions reduce workable days over 1-3 years.
- ↘ Digesters change volume and destination over multi-year cycles.
Fragmented locally because manure cannot travel economically forever. Regional operators scale through adjacent crews, shared maintenance, and nutrient-plan relationships.
SBA 7(a) data
Real acquisitions in this category
Change-of-ownership loans · NAICS 484220 · Specialized Freight (except Used Goods) Trucking, Local
Deal size distribution
Deal flow over time
Financing profile
Recent comparable deals
| Closed | State | Loan | Implied deal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2025 | GA | $1.6M | $1.9M |
| Sep 2024 | NC | $2.5M | $3.0M |
| Sep 2024 | NC | $150K | $177K |
| Aug 2024 | NY | $100K | $118K |
| Aug 2024 | NY | $1.7M | $2.0M |
| Dec 2023 | UT | $719K | $846K |
| Nov 2023 | WV | $2.1M | $2.5M |
| Nov 2023 | WV | $350K | $412K |
| Mar 2023 | WI | $525K | $618K |
| Aug 2022 | FL | $781K | $919K |
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA dataset, filtered to acquisitions (loans where business age is "Change of Ownership"). Implied deal size assumes an 85% loan-to-purchase ratio, a common SBA change-of-ownership structure. Charge-off rate shown only when 10+ loans have resolved (paid in full or charged off). Interest rates reflect last 24 months only. Actual deal values vary with equity injections, seller financing, and working capital terms.
Valuation framework
How these actually get priced
Value normalized SDE after operator wages and fleet reserve, then reconcile liens and equipment fair value separately. The profile 1.5x-2.75x range fits one crew; the SBA freight proxy is lending context, not a comp.
What moves the multiple
- ▲ PremiumDense transferable gallons and records
Protects volume and gallons/day.
- ▲ PremiumRedundant equipment and non-owner dispatch
Reduces peak-window downtime.
- ▼ DiscountCustomer concentration or unpriced distance
One farm or long haul can erase route value.
- ▼ DiscountDeferred hose, pump, tanker, tractor, or truck capex
Subtract replacement and liens before the multiple.
Worked example
The profile midpoint is $350K revenue × 35% margin = $122.5K SDE. At 1.5x-2.75x, value is about $184K-$337K. Dense contracted gallons, a second dispatcher, and real reserve defend the top; one dominant farm or tired hose belongs at the bottom minus capex.
Common buyer mistakes
- ✕ Paying for gallons without distance and moves
- ✕ Adding equipment value twice after capitalizing SDE
- ✕ Treating the $1.0M SBA proxy as a crew comp
- ✕ Ignoring pollution exclusions
- ✕ Calling owner overtime free cash flow
Deal Calculator
Priced off $123K SDE — can this deal service its own debt?
SDE = revenue × margin estimate for this niche; it includes owner compensation, so budget your salary out of cash flow. Excludes working-capital injection, capex reserves, and taxes. Actual SBA terms vary by lender and borrower.
Due diligence checklist
Before you sign anything
- 01
Rebuild 24 months by farm, storage, field, volume, method, miles, setup, hours, rate, fuel, and margin.
Tests every sensitivity and whether distance is priced.
Red flagMetered volume cannot reconcile to invoices and plan fields. - 02
Shadow a mobilization and record agitation, moves, crossings, pumping, application, cleanup, and deadhead.
Tests 170,000 gallons/day.
Red flagBase volume assumes nameplate pumping with no delay. - 03
Reconcile fuel-card and bulk-tank records by unit to paid manure volume.
Attacks the five-point fuel sensitivity.
Red flagFuel exceeds 20% or farm fuel is mixed in. - 04
Verify applicator, CDL, vehicle, weight, CAFO, plan, setback, spill, and insurance files by state and farm.
Tests compliance moat and tail risk.
Red flagWork occurred off-plan, pollution is excluded, or permits do not transfer. - 05
Pressure-test hose and inspect pumps, tractors, tankers, injectors, trucks, meters, liens, and five-year maintenance with a mechanic.
Tests replacement reserve.
Red flagTwo-year capex exceeds one year of SDE. - 06
Call top farms and landowners about next-season gallons, price, acreage, failures, and seller dependence.
Tests recurring volume and concentration.
Red flagOne farm controls over 30% of SDE or will rebid.
Pros
- +Raw material is often free or generates a pickup fee — both ends of the transaction can produce revenue
- +Recurring route business with the same farm customers year after year
- +Low competition in rural markets — few operators want the work, creating genuine pricing power
- +Growing organic farming demand is increasing the value of properly-managed organic soil amendments
Cons
- -Seasonal revenue — spring and fall are peak, winter and summer slow in northern climates
- -Specialized equipment (tankers, spreaders, injection equipment) requires consistent maintenance
- -Regulatory complexity: nutrient management plans, lagoon permits, and setback rules vary by state
Best For
Rural operators comfortable with agriculture who want a route-based business with very low competition and recurring farm customers
Operating Costs
At $350K revenue: truck and equipment payments or maintenance ($40-60K/year), fuel ($30-50K/year), driver wages if not owner-operated, insurance, permits. Owner-operators net 30-40%.
Where to Buy
Search agricultural service businesses including hauling and spreading operations
Industry resources and network for farm-related business buyers
Buyer's Toolkit
Essential tools to get started
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