The Rural Voice, 2002-03, Page 34MARQUARDT
FARM DRAINAGE LTD.
(ESTABLISHED 1968)
SPECIALIZING IN:
■ Farm Drainage
• Municipal Drainage
• Backhoe Work
• Excavator Wok
• Dozer Work
• Erosion Control.
WE OFFER:
■ FREE ESTIMATES
• Personal evaluation of your project
• Detailed plans and design work
• State-of-the-art equipment
• Qualified and experienced personnel
• Guaranteed workmanship & customer service
For that personal touch, pride in workmanship,
experience and FREE ESTIMATES call
MARQUARDT
FARM DRAINAGE LTD.
(ESTABLISHED 1968)
R.R. #3, Palmerston, Ontario
1-888-534-0393
OFFICE 343-3233 HOME 338-2373
STEVE CRONSBERRY (Owner)
Can municipalities PLAN
to protect agriculture,
can they PLAN to protect water?
Join Grey Association for Better Planning
(GABP) for our
13th Annual Meeting
Saturday, April 6, 2002 at 12:00 p.m.
at the
Grey Sauble Conservation Authority
(South-West of Owen Sound)
Bring a sandwich, we'll provide refreshments.
Note: GABP is challenging an OMB decision in the courts
(see August Rural Voice, Grey Newsletter)
We need financial assistance
Charitable donations may be paid to:
CEDF (write GABP on front of cheque)
2 College Street, Suite 208, Toronto, ON M5G 1K3
Donations may also be paid to: GABP, PO Box 312,
Flesherton, ON NOC 1E0.
Questions? Please call Anna Scott 519-794-3259 or
write: our_water_works@hotmail.com
30 THE RURAL VOICE
animals deposited so there'll be at
least 18 inches of shavings covering
the bodies. The front of the bin has
removable planks, added as the bin
fills, eventually reaching the height
of the bin to prevent animals from
getting in.
Since they switched to sawdust
and shavings there's no evidence of
rats or mice, said Matt who handles
the composting operation.
The bays were sized to fit the 54"
bucket on their small loader tractor
which is used for filling and clearing
the bins. They fill one bin, then move
to the next. Of the eight bins, they
use bins two and three for initial
filling. After about three months of
composting, the•bins are emptied into
bins one and four for further
composting. After another three
months, the material is shifted to bins
seven and eight ( bins five and six are
kept for storage of recycled shavings
from the trucks and fresh bulk
shavings). The final step is to take
the compost out of the bins and store
it in a pile outside which is turned
monthlyfor four to six months to
cure.
The composting process takes
about two hours a month, an
investment in time that looks
good when his deadstock operator
wants $15 to pick up a market pig,
Chris says.
The practical experience of
composting offered by the Cockles
was augmented by the scientific trials
of livestock composting carried out
by Dr. Jim Morris of Ridgetown
College.
Morris says biodegradation might
be a better term than composting for
the process since the end product is
not true compost.
"The aim was to find something
economically viable, environ-
mentally friendly and ethically
acceptable," Morris said of the
design for the Ridgetown experiment
which was based on visits to
composting sites in the U.S. Those
composters were as simple as bins
created by plastic -covered large
round bales in Missouri to fully -
roofed composting sheds.
The Ridgetown composting
experiment is in open bins designed
to be five feet high. Some of the bins
were filled with sawdust and some
with chopped straw. The carcasses of