The Rural Voice, 2001-04, Page 37find a predicable pattern to the "art"
of composting. Cornell University,
for instance, has determined the ideal
ratio of carbon to nitrogen in a
composting mixture is 30 parts
carbon to one part nitrogen. If the
optimum ration isn't present nitrogen
may be lost instead of being tied up
for later use. Items high in carbon
can include everything from straw to
wood chips and sawdust to
newspaper and corrugated cardboard.
But while turning liquid manure
into solid compost is drawing
new interest, the holy grail for
many farmers committed to liquid
manure is composting liquid manure.
Andres, though he uses solid manure
in his barn, has long had a liquid
manure tank to catch and hold run-
off. He's been using a diffusion
pump to aerate the liquid for years
but it's a tricky proposition because
there often isn't enough carbon in the
mixture to make the carbon/nitrogen
balance.
Liquid manure aeration is more
popular in Europe, Andres says and
he's heard there are enquiries about
importing European aeration systems
here.
Some people see
digesters as the
ultimate answer
Andres' neighbour, Ken Craig had
a demonstration of an aeration
system on his dairy farm and though
it was only for a few days, he found
the odour of his manure tank was
reduced from the effort.
But there's a challenger to the
aerobic treatment of manure used in
composting. Some people even here
in Ontario, Fleming says, feel that
digesters which use an anaerobic
action to break down manure and
create methane gas are the long-term
answer of liquid manure treatment.
Several experiments in Europe and
the United States are exploring the
potential to turn manure into heat and
light, with the residue left after the
digestion then being used as a
nutrient.
Still, the attraction of composting
is in its elegant simplicity, Fleming
says. It's putting nature to work to
solve problems — and there's no
danger of expolosion as there is with
methane gas.0
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APRIL 2001 33