compost

Last year, in an effort to help manage the output from our lovely animals, we embarked on a new business. After conducting some research on bedding and manure management, we decided to compost our barn waste and sell the finished product. With the help of O2Compost of Snohomish, WA we constructed an Aerated Bay Compost System. The concept is simple: pile the waste in a bin, force air into the pile to accelerate the decomposition and end up with a useable product. We have been very pleased with the results so far. The product is perfect as a garden supplement, adding organic matter to the soil and as top dressing for our paddocks acting as a mild fertilizer.

Let's do an experiment: three simialr tomato plants in regular soil, soil with compost and only compost. Altough all three were pot bound for

this experiment, the plant with the mixture of compost and regular local soil, had the fullest and deepest colored foliage durring the summer.

O2Compost has many configurations that may help you solve your manure management problem. They have simple systems for small farms as well as very large systems for larger farms. Please contact them directly or you may contact me to evaluate my experience. It's an simple and constructive solution for manure management.