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Agricultural waste is the waste material remaining after processing crops to a marketable material or as a result of various agricultural operations. Agricultural wastes, which may include horticultural and forestry wastes, comprise crop residues, animal manure, diseased carcasses, as well as other wastes from farms, poultry houses and slaughterhouses, harvest waste, fertilizer run-off from fields, pesticides that enter into water, air, or soil; and salt and silt drained from fields.

The composition depends on the system of agriculture. Estimates of agricultural wastes are rare, but they are generally thought of as contributing a significant proportion of the total waste matter in the developed world. Since 1960, as a result of huge rises in productivity, there have been corresponding increases in the volumes of crop residues and animal manure requiring disposal. There is likely to be a significant increase in agricultural wastes globally if developing countries continue to intensify farming systems.

Agricultural wastes include both natural (organic) and non-natural waste materials. The main non-natural wastes include packaging, non-packaging plastics (such as silage and horticultural films); agrochemicals; animal health products (such as used syringes); waste from machinery (such as oil, tires, and batteries) and building waste (such as asbestos sheeting). Common wastes are sugar cane bagasse and cotton gin trash. Many agricultural wastes are sold as animal feed and materials unsuitable for use as animal feed are typically burned on site as fuel, thereby giving some processing plants the potential for being self-sufficient in energy.

See also: Agricultural Residues, Residues, Rice Straw, Wheat Straw.