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A study was conducted on three dairy and one swine farms to determine the labor, equipment and energy requirements of manure handling from collection through land application of liquid dairy and swine manure management systems using above-ground steel storage. Time-motion studies were conducted on manure scraping and collection at dairy facilities with open lot and free stall enclosed barn arrangements. Slurry agitation and removal activities were also observed using the standard agitation pump systems in the steel storage and either a 12.4 m3 (3,300 gal) liquid tank wagon with injectors or a sprinkler irrigation system. Frequency of manure collection and transfer into storage was dependent upon weather conditions, manure volume and moisture of the manure on the open lot facilities. For the three dairies, manure collection activities were more costly than removal activities with 55 to 77% of the operating costs due to energy and labor. For both collection and removal, labor was the greatest expense. Between 58 to 75% of the total fuel usage of all manure system activities was required for manure removal with agitation requiring more fuel than hauling and land application. Distance to the application site was the most important variable in manure removal and a major influence on both time requirements and costs.