The Rural Voice, 2001-04, Page 33speeding up the composting
operation, allowing more volume to
be put through in a shorter time. The
manure and carbon material can be
turned into compost in two to four
weeks, depending on the material,
but this compost needs to age for
another two months before it is
broken down enough to be sold for
off farm uses.
And Smith is so sure of the
value of that product, he's
offering to buy back the
compost from those who install his
system. It's a proposal that can turn
around the economics of composting,
Smith says.
For instance, it could cost from
$250,000 to $300,000, depending on
building costs, to construct a
composting facility for a 1200 head
finishing barn. That barn would
create 1200-1400 tons of compost a
year, which Smith offers to buy back
at $30 a ton. It means an income of
$40,000 a year to help pay off the
installation costs, he says.
The economics get better for a
larger operator. There are economies
Researcher says
compost should be as
economical to truck as
feed
of scale in building a larger
composting facility that could handle
three barns and return $120,000 a
year for compost, paying off the
composter's costs in three years.
Smith plans on bagging and
marketing the compost to gardeners
under the name Utopia Gold.
While gardeners may be the initial
target, both Smith and Fleming see
composting as a way of solving the
nutrient management problems of
larger livestock operators who don't
have a landbase large enough to deal
with all the manure produced by their
animals. While liquid manure is
bulky and difficult to transport, dry
composted manure has less volume
and, being stable, is safer and easier
to transport.
In fact, says Smith, one Alberta
researcher contends that it should be
as economical to transport compost
as it is to transport pig feed. That can
open the doors for livestock farmers
with an excess of manure to sell a
stable product to cash crop farmers,
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Wed., Aprd 4th & Thurs., April 5th
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JD 4240
$100.00 �
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Dobben (Farm ow Chairman)
Ph/Fax 519.343-5824 or GWD@WCL.ON.CA
Tuesday, Aril3, 2001
Gluc4�—liyuriU�-r�iL �Unr►,eG�nia„v
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Call Chairman Frank Visscher 638.9988
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"Come celebrate 20 years of the Drayton Kinsmen Farm Show
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APRIL 2001 29