The barren sandy land in northwestern Ningxia has restricted corn growth due to insufficient nutrients. The application of cow manure from surrounding farms can effectively improve soil quality，thereby promoting healthy growth and yield formation of corn. Understanding reasonable farmland manure disposal capacity can not only improve farmland production capacity，but also realize the maximum benefit of corn production. Taking fodder corn “Lvbo 6” as the research object，under the premise of drip irrigation and topdressing with integrated water and fertilizer application，3750 (T1)，7500 (T2)，and 11250 (T3)，15000 kg·hm-2 (T4) of semi-rotten mature cow dung treatments were set up，with no manure applied as the control (CK). The results showed that the plant height and stem diameter of corn increased by 27.50%～41.08% and 50.00%～61.36% after adding cow manure compared with CK. When applying 15000 kg·hm-2 cow manure，the plant height and stem diameter of corn increased the most. The application of cow manure had a significant effect on the photosynthetic characteristics of corn during the tasseling period，compared with CK，the net photosynthesis rate，stomatal conductance，intercellular CO₂ concentration，transpiration rate，and chlorophyll increased by 1.42%～15.49%，40%～60%，29.02%～65.70%，21.73%～55.59%，12.79%～44.23% after the application of cow manure，respecting. When applying 15000 kg·hm-2 cow manure， the photosynthetic parameters of corn during tasseling period were more prominet. Corn roots developed best when 11250 kg·hm-2 cow manure was applied，and the corn fresh root weight，total root length，root surface area，root diameter，and root volume increased by 115.80%，103.78%，104.06%，4.63%，and 101.83%，respectively，compared to CK. Application of manure had a significant effect on corn agronomic trait，compared with CK，ear rows，row grains，ear length，and ear thickness increased by 20.03%～30.00%，14.63%～31.49%，28.16%～50.74%，62.57%～72.28%，respectively，and the length of bald tip decreased by 39.88%～53.99%. When applying 11250 kg·hm-2 cow manure，the number of rows，ear length，ear thickness and bald tip length performed the best. The application of cow manure significantly increased the number of corn ears and the weight of 100 kernels，there was no significant difference on the number of spikes per manure treatment，and the yield was 11878.95～18897.90 kg·hm-2. Compared with CK，the output increased by 63.85%～160.67%，and economic benefits increased by 166.53%～401.90%. Therefore，it is necessary to improve the soil conditions and promote the increase of corn yield by supplementing suitable organic matter in the corn field of sandy land. From the perspective of fertilization cost and benefit，adding 11250 kg·hm-2 semi-rotted cow manure to sandy soil with corn in Ningxia dairy farming area can not only effectively consume farm manure，but also promote high-quality and efficient production of local corn.